A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
by ANoRDaE
Summary: Rain slowly trickled down the glass window and Sharpay stared at her frail reflection as she sat and listened to the rhythmic pitterpatter of the water drops from the warmth of her bedroom. But inside she felt so cold. A Sharpay story.
1. A Rough Patch

**Title: **A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

**Rating: **M just to be safe. Dramatic/angsty moments and language.. possibly intimate scenes later on...

**Pairing: **Sharpay and Troy. Eventually. But shhh… you don't know that yet.

**Disclaimer:** Uhh.. I SO don't own anything.. You know that. I know that. That's settled. Song title from Disney Channel, btw.

_**A/N: **So. I completely adored the character Sharpay, but I thought she was way too damn perky and mean. There HAD to be a dark side to her. So this story is portraying her REAL side. Or so I believe. :)_

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**A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes...**

_"when you can dream... then you can start... a dream is a wish you make with your heart..."_

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Rain slowly trickled down the glass window and Sharpay stared at her frail reflection as she sat and listened to the rhythmic pitter-patter of the water drops from the warmth of her bedroom. But inside she felt so cold. She sighed deeply and hugged herself while her dark brown watery eyes were fixed upon the gray and gloomy busy world outside. Uncertainty and frustration reeled in and out of her mind and she ran a pale shaky hand through her perfectly cut blonde hair. She felt like her whole life was all building up to something, and right as she reached the top of it there was absolutely nothing. She wanted to give up. She felt so… empty. Lifeless. Unimportant. But most of all, she was just utterly and downright confused.

Sharpay Aurora Mackenzie Evans seemed to have it all. Her parents were unbelievably rich, so her and her twin brother Ryan could have anything their little adolescent hearts desired. But clothes… money… popularity… _All for what?_ Sharpay thought disgustingly, feeling the need to rip everything she owned to shreds. _It means nothing! _She wanted to scream. _But of course, 'little-miss-perfect' can do-no-wrong._ She clenched her eyes tight and leaned her head against the wall behind her, a stray tear escaping from her pools of chocolate-brown. She sniffled as she tried drying her eyes, mentally kicking herself for being so weak. _Why? _Sharpay asked herself. _Why am I like this? _With her head in her hands, a meek little voice was heard from the back of her mind.

_Maybe it's because you don't have a single person in this world who knows the real you._

Sharpay frowned. _But who the hell am I anyway? _She argued with herself, another silent tear falling down her cheek. A small knock on her closed bedroom door interrupted her thoughts and made her pop back into reality.

"Ray?" She quickly recognized the gentle muffled voice that was standing behind the door. He was the _only _one in the entire universe who was allowed to use that nickname for her. "It's Ry."

_Time to put on the mask again…_Sharpay thought as she tried composing herself to become her prissy and bitchy 'self'. "Wh-What do you want?" Her voice trembled. _Not at all believable… shit._ She winced.

"Well," Ryan's voice answered simply, "It's 1:30 in the afternoon and you haven't come out of your room yet today… I'm just… concerned, I guess…"

Sharpay was silent for a moment; she tried making her voice sound convincing. "I'm perfectly fine," she said cautiously, feeling the anger rise within her. She clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes, wishing her twin brother would leave her alone. She couldn't deal with anyone right now, not in the emotional state she was in at the moment.

"Mother and Father are getting worried also."

"I. Don't. Care." Sharpay said through clenched teeth. She was staring at her closed wooden bedroom door, thankful there was a barrier in between the two of them.

"What should I tell them then?"

Sharpay stood up and walked over to her feathery pink and white bed and laid down, putting her palms over her eyes, desperately trying not to lash out at her brother. "Tell them," she said slowly, "that I'm diligently memorizing and reciting my lines for the upcoming play."

"Sharpay… It's summer. School ended just a week ago, they'll never buy that excuse—"

"JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE, RYAN!"She shouted before he could finish his sentence. Sharpay reached her breaking point, she didn't mean to react in such fashion, but he just pushed her over the edge.

Ryan froze in his tracks. He _definitely_ wasn't expecting a reaction like that. Confused and hurt, he walked away speechless, listening to the heart-wrenching sobs coming from inside Sharpay's room.

Everything she'd ever held in, every emotion that was ever bottled deep inside her burst out of Sharpay like a tidal wave. Her sobs shook her body to her inner core and she felt entirely helpless. She was positively sure her parents and her brother and even maybe some neighbors could hear her, but at this point in time, Sharpay _really _didn't care. It was a huge mansion; chances are her parents were probably oblivious to the entire situation.

She used almost all of her effort to roll herself over so she could cry harder and louder into her pillows. It muffled the noise greatly, but it didn't help the pain inside. All of her emotions were spilling out of her and she cried out more in exasperation. Almost hyperventilating, Sharpay tried taking deep breaths, but when she attempted and realized that she couldn't calm down, she let out a long wail, which made her whole body tremble, and that only made her cry even more. Her world was crashing down _fast._ And she had absolutely no idea how to rebuild it.

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Ryan sat in his room, frozen and horrified. His room was right across the hall from Sharpay's. Her cries sounded as clear as day and they echoed and repeated inside his mind like a nightmare. Sharpay was always strong. Always tough. Or… so Ryan thought. He had his hand on his chin, his gray blue eyes hypnotized and staring at his bedroom door. He had completely no idea that Sharpay was hurting that badly inside. She always fended for herself and depended on no one else but her. That was just how she lived. Nothing and no one could _ever_ break her down.

Well, that was until now.

_Why? A-And how? _Ryan wondered._ How long has she felt like this? Was it because of me? What did I do? Or… God damn… what has happened to her? _He rubbed both his temples, trying to block out Sharpay's pitiful cries. Every minute that slipped by, more and more of his heart started to break. Never in his entire life has he _ever _heard Sharpay cry this hard and for this long. It was getting too much for him to handle. He racked his brain for the right thing to do. It was definitely a miracle that his parents hadn't heard her yet. _Not like they'd care, _he thought, rolling his eyes.

He couldn't take it anymore; he stood up abruptly, knowing in his heart exactly what he should do. Though hesitating for a couple seconds with his hand on his doorknob, he threw open his door, ran across the hall and ripped open Sharpay's door. He immediately spotted Sharpay lying on her stomach on her bed. Her hair was in a loose ponytail and it was all tousled and frizzy, her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and her pillows and blankets were all wet with salty tears. She was wearing nothing but a small pink camisole tank top and matching striped boxer shorts, but none of this mattered to them at the moment. Sharpay needed him.

Ryan sprinted towards the bed and carefully lifted his petite sister up into his arms. Still crying as hard as ever, Sharpay accepted his hug gratefully and completely broke down further in his embrace. Ryan rocked her back and forth making soothing noises in her ear.

"Ray…. What is wrong?" Ryan whispered faintly. She tried responding, but all that would come out were choked sobs and gasps. Sharpay clung onto him as if Ryan were her last lifeline. Since Sharpay was showing no signs of stopping soon, Ryan scooted backwards into a more comfortable position on her bed and just held his sister tight, rubbing her back occasionally.

"Please, Sharpay…" Ryan said seriously after some time passed, "I want to help! Tell me what the hell is going on! I hate seeing you like this!" Sharpay gave one great whimper and a sniffle, followed by another soft cry while she swallowed, but she was showing signs of calming down. Ryan held her close, still not knowing the reasoning behind this breakdown. But he didn't care. He was patient, and waited until Sharpay lay completely still, not saying a word.

Ryan didn't dare speak; in fear Sharpay would lose her courage to say what's on her mind. So he waited very patiently, even when Sharpay shifted positions to become more comfortable. Her head now rested on his left shoulder, and Ryan's back was leaning against the headboard. She sniffled again, and he sighed deeply, making her move with the rise of his chest. She was still very silent, and neither twin said anything for quite some time. Ryan thought his sister had fallen asleep.

"Life."

Ryan's ears perked up. "What?" he asked gently.

"Life is what's wrong," Sharpay said in just a barely-heard whisper. Her eyes started to get watery and her lip started to tremble dangerously.

"Hey, hey, hey… shhh…" Ryan said, comforting her again. She started to cry again, this time silently. Her abs were tightening and her face was scrunched up, she was using all her effort to not let the sob come through. She let out the breath she was holding, but quickly sucked back in.

"Ray, you're exhausted, hun," Ryan said looking down at Sharpay, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She took a couple deep breaths, which were more like gasps. "You're going to take a nap for a little bit, and then a shower to clean up, all right?" Ryan ordered. "We're going to talk once you've calmed down." She nodded meekly, knowing he only said that because he cares.

Ryan slid out of Sharpay's arms and scooted off the bed and into the other room. Sharpay slowly lay down on top of her covers, now depressed because she was alone again. But not soon after, her eyes lit up suddenly once Ryan entered the room with a fresh dry pillow. Sharpay noticed it was his own that he was giving her. They smiled at each other, no words necessary as he exchanged the damp pillow with the clean one. Sharpay buried her head deeper into the pillow, and was suddenly embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed a deep red and she couldn't look her brother in the eye. Ryan looked at her sympathetically, and he pulled the covers she was lying on out from under her and tucked her in.

"Get some rest, sis," Ryan muttered quietly, and he kissed her forehead. Sharpay watched her brother walk away a couple steps.

"Don't leave," she choked. Ryan's expression changed drastically, and he went straight back to the bed to be by her side. Embarrassed again, Sharpay watched Ryan's figure climb into her bed with her from the corner of her eye. But she breathed a sign of relief, feeling at peace when he was around.

"I won't leave," he said tenderly but firmly. The way Ryan was sitting, he was leaning against the headboard again, but this time with the support of a couple pillows for his back. He looked to his left and saw Sharpay, eyes closed, lying on her side facing him, her breathing gradually becoming calmer by the second. He could see it in her facial expression, she was _really _hurting inside. And whatever it was, Ryan wanted to make that pain go away.

Ryan brushed the hair out of Sharpay's face again, and she sighed deeply. He sat by her side until he was fully sure that she was fast asleep. He could tell because her breathing patterns were now slow and rhythmic instead of short and choppy. He silently slipped off her bed, tiptoed to the door and looked back one last time, hand lingering on the doorknob. He frowned when he noticed Sharpay's expression. It was a look of confusion and doubt, and that killed Ryan inside. He wanted the best for his sister, but he couldn't help if he didn't know what was going on. But for right now, all Ryan could do was wait.

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_**A/N **- I probably won't be updating this for a few weeks, but I loooove reviewers. Like WOAH. :) Even if it just says something like "Hey this was good." Or "hey I think you suck" I don't careeeee. I like criticism, btw. Well.. to a point.. whatever. This is my first High School Musical fanfic, and I would appreciate some feedback. Just please… review review reviewwwww!_


	2. A Change for the Better

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Disclaimer:** Wow. You know, sometimes I just want to be all "YEAH I OWN EVERYTHING IN THIS STORY, IT'S ALL MINE!" But… sadly, I'd be lying. Yeah. So. I own nothing. Duh.

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_A/N: I loooove reviewersssss. They're like oxygen. I can't live without oxygen. So review. To… keep me alive._

_To reply to a few things… I told this to **Dragonskin Fool**, but I'll repeat it here also. Ryan calls Sharpay "Ray" because I thought it would be a cute nickname, like Ryan started calling her that at a young age. Ry and Ray. Awww. And you know, sha**R**p**AY**. Ray. I dunno. I thought it was cute. And yes, I will indeed be continuing this story, this is the second chapter of many to come. But don't expect them all too fast… I just got excited about this chapter and wanted to get it done as fast as I could. I mean, come on, I'm 15 years old. I have a life. LOL. And to **Kelly** – thank you for recognizing that I use proper spelling and grammar… I take pride in knowing the difference between 'their, there, and they're...' and etc… Unlike some other people on this site.. hahaaa. And thank you for everyone else who reviewed! It's incredibly appreciated! ANYWAY. I RAMBLE. Back to the story: (this one's a long one. :D)_

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Sharpay sleepily blinked her eyes open, slowly adjusting to the late-afternoon sun that was now peeking through the gray rain-clouds. She rolled over on her back, took a deep breath and sighed, rubbing her eyes a bit. Ryan was right. She really was exhausted. _When is he not right,_ she smiled. _Well, I guess thirty-five minutes or so of completely bawling your eyes out can infact tire a person out._ She remembered Ryan's advice about showering next, and again, he was right._ I **do **feel gross._ Sharpay thought, wrinkling her nose as she sat up on her bed. She rubbed her face again, taking another deep breath with a groan. She managed to drag herself out of her bed and to her closet with some effort.

Sharpay dug around her many drawers, feeling frustrated that she couldn't find the item of clothing she wanted to wear. But finally after looking through seven more drawers she found exactly what she was looking for, which made her breathe a sigh of relief. They were the only pair of sweatpants she had in her entire wardrobe. They were red of course, representing her school's East High Wildcats. And she only wore them on certain occasions, like now for instance, where she didn't care what people saw her dressed like. She grabbed a pair of underwear, a sports bra, and a local college t-shirt, and walked into her spacious bathroom.

_The people at school would flip a lid if they saw what I'm about to wear,_ she thought with a laugh as she set down her clothes on the counter. _Ooh, _she fake-sneered, mocking the kids at her school, _Sharpay's dressed like a scrub… Oooh, it's a sign of the apocalypse._ She turned on the shower and let the water run and get hot enough as she stripped of all the clothing she was wearing. She tugged at her elastic holding her ponytail together and threw it on the pile of clothes next to the sink. The large mirror was getting fogged up and Sharpay knew it was hot enough. She slid open the glass door and stepped inside, shutting it behind her carefully.

She tilted her head back and let the water soak through her hair and she let the water massage her back

"How am I going to explain myself to Ryan?" Sharpay wondered out loud. She squirted some shampoo and conditioner in to her hand and rubbed it through her hair. "I can't even explain it to myself, let alone another person." She covered her face with her hands and let the water cascade down the front of her. She sarcastically practiced how her conversation could go. _Hi Ryan. Ha, yeah, so basically I'm a mental nutcase who has absolutely no friends, who completely hates life at the moment and no one would even care if I fell off the face of this earth! And there are a **million** other things wrong with me that I can't even begin to explain to you. So I'm not even going to **TRY**._ She shut her eyes and resisted the urge to scream. _No one understands me. No one even knows me. No one even fucking cares._ She let out a whimper of frustration and rinsed out her hair hastily. "I'm such a fucking idiot," she whispered.

Sharpay made sure her hair was fully rinsed out and she turned off the faucet. She stood there and listened to the last of the water drip to the bottom of the shower before stepping out and drying off. She took her pink towel and rubbed it on her hair to make sure it was dry.

She suddenly started to get a little anxious about talking to Ryan. "Why am I nervous? It's just Ryan," she asked herself as she slipped on the comfy clothes she laid out for herself. _I don't want to talk to him, _she thought desperately. _I can't explain it to him. I can't do it… oh god please… I can't face him!_ She combed through her hair quickly and looked herself over in the mirror. Her eyes were still reasonably red and a bit puffy, making it a bit obvious she had been crying, but it wasn't too noticeable. "I can't keep Ryan waiting… Here goes nothing," she said fearfully to herself when she realized she was finished with everything in the bathroom.

Sharpay's light footsteps seemed to echo down the hallway as she passed her room to go down the main marble grand staircase. She turned a corner and silently stepped through the archway. Ryan didn't hear her enter the kitchen; he was too busy searching for something in the refrigerator.

"Where are mom and dad?" Sharpay asked, her voice cracking a little, the sound echoing off the white tiled floor. Ryan was startled for a split second, and he turned his head towards his sister briefly.

"They… left a note for you," he said grimly. "They… left for Vegas for a while." He motioned towards the counter and turned back around to the fridge to keep searching for something to eat.

Sharpay dreadfully walked over and picked up the scribbled note. "Again?" she whispered, her tone also filled with pain. "They didn't even say why!" She looked the note up and down in disbelief, and she threw it back on the counter in disgust.

Ryan closed the fridge door and stayed facing it.

"Ry… are you ok?" Sharpay asked, taking a step towards him.

Back still facing her, Ryan didn't respond. Silence surrounded them in the large mansion.

Immediately, Sharpay knew something was wrong. "Ryan. What happened?" Sharpay questioned him again, voice filled with concern.

"I'm the reason why they left," he whispered. Ryan turned around to face Sharpay for the first time, and she noticed his eyes were also tear-stained and slightly blood-shot. Sharpay immediately reached out and hugged him close. "I was trying to protect you," he explained. She pulled away.

"I want to know what happened," Sharpay said firmly. Ryan nodded and the two of them walked into their designer living room.

A giant chandelier was the focal point of the room, as was the beautiful gigantic fireplace placed on the back wall. The couches, the walls, even the grand piano were all white and looked like they were brand-new. Ryan and Sharpay took a seat on the fluffy white couch in front of their flat screen plasma television. Sharpay tucked her legs underneath her and she leaned against the armrest behind her, facing Ryan. Ryan sat right next to her, one knee resting under him, and one leg left dangling off the end of the cushion, and he faced her also. He took a deep breath.

"After you fell asleep, I walked downstairs and found Mother and Father chatting and having a cup of coffee in the dining room. I—" he got choked up as he remembered what happened…

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_Ryan stormed down the stairs and into the dining room, interrupting his parents' intelligent conversation._

_"__Ryan, what in the world is on your shirt? Go change!' Veronica, his mom said, rolling her eyes._

___Ryan glanced at his shoulder, which he just now noticed was wet with Sharpay's tears. He looked back at his parents with hatred in his eyes._

_"__Do you know what this is?" he asked calmly, pointing to the spot on his red t-shirt._

_"__A mess?" his dad, Marcus answered sarcastically, earning am airy laugh from the two adults._

_"__No, Dad!" Ryan yelled. "This is from Sharpay!" he cried, grabbing the damp spot, "These are Sharpay's tears!"_

___Veronica seemed unfazed. "Go change," she ordered. "That could be bad for your health... or something"_

___Ryan stood speechless, wondering whether or not they were joking. He stared at them, not saying a word. "Are you kidding? Y-You're _actually _serious? Sharpay is **hurting**," he said, eyes watering._

_"__I'll hire a therapist for her," Marcus stated quickly. "Now stop that yelling, it's giving me quite a headache."_

_"__Why are you acting like this? It's like you don't even care! Do you hear what I'm even saying? You remember Sharpay? Your daughter? You know her? God, you two are so damn oblivious to everything that happens in this fucking house!"_

_"__Stop that yelling, **right now**,_ _young man. I'll—"_

_"__You'll WHAT, Dad. **WHAT?** I don't even _care _at this point. If you didn't notice, since you **obviously**_ _have forgotten, Sharpay is MY sister, and she is having a rough time for… god knows what, and you are telling me that you don't even care? You'll 'hire a therapist,'" he said mocking them stupidly. "Do you even love her?"_

_"__What kind of question is that? Of course we love her—"_

_"__If you loved her, you would have known she had been crying her heart out for the past **forty minutes**!"_

___His parents were taken aback for a moment. Stillness surrounded them, but was broken by Ryan's small sob. He clutched at the moist spot on his shirt again. "What are you trying to say, Ryan?" Marcus asked angrily._

___Mood rapidly changed, Ryan now grasped at his blonde hair, trying incredibly hard not to rip it out of his head. "You two… are the WORST fucking parents in the world!" he cried. "You don't see what is going on right under your damn nose!"_

_"__We're bad parents?" Marcus inquired haughtily, offended greatly by Ryan's statement._

_"__YES," Ryan answered with a shout._

___Marcus stood up and took a few steps toward Ryan so they were inches away from each other. Marcus' face was beat red with anger and he shook a flinger in front of Ryan's nose._

_"__Listen up, boy," he started dangerously. "You and your sister should consider yourselves lucky. Most kids your age have to work and earn all the things they get. Your mother and I let you two—"_

_"__That's where you're wrong!" Ryan said, interrupting his speech. "We don't _need _expensive clothes, o-or the newest gadget to 'consider ourselves lucky.' We want to be **loved **by our parents! Is that too much to ask from a kid? Enlighten me. Please, tell me again, out of our whole high school career, how many shows have you been to of ours?" He paused, waiting for an answer. "How many!" he shouted impatiently._

_"__T-Two—" Veronica stuttered._

_"__Two productions! Pathetic! What kind of parents don't go to their kid's school plays?" He threw his hands up in exasperation. _

_"__I'm going up to see Sharpay." Veronica said, standing up out of her chair suddenly._

_"__Oh, and say what? 'Talk to me.' 'Tell me what's going on,'" he mocked again. "Like she's going to friggin tell you! You don't even know her favorite color anymore!" Ryan's voice was hoarse with fury._

_"__That's easy," Veronica said with a laugh. "It's pink."_

_"__LIGHT BLUE," Ryan hollered. Veronica was hurt slightly, and she narrowed her eyes at her son._

_"__I'm still going up to see her."_

_"__Don't even fucking bother. She's sleeping now. I told her she needed to rest. Not that you'd care," Ryan said, crossing his arms._

_"__You are **way**_ _out of line, young man. Apologize for your language," Marcus shouted, getting in his face again._

_"__I don't think **I** should be the one apologizing," Ryan said in a deadly tone._

___Marcus also narrowed his eyes at Ryan. He turned to Veronica. "C'mon honey. We're leaving for a bit. He needs to calm down."_

_"__Calm down? What the hell? Oh, where are you going now, Dad? Vegas, like you did last time you **ran**_ away _like a coward?"_

_"__You know, a long vacation actually sounds like a good idea. Seems as if it'll take quite some time for all that anger to leave you _anyway. _V, we're leaving NOW."_

___Veronica hastily scribbled down a note for Sharpay and laid it on the dark green marble kitchen countertop. Marcus snatched his keys, his wallet, and two passports._

_"__Not suitcases for the flight? That's smart."_

_"__We'll buy the things we need," Marcus spat as both he and Veronica threw on their coats._

_"__S-So, you think that when you come back, nothing happened at all? You'll just somehow 'forget' that this whole argument happened? You always run away when you're confronted about things! You can't run away from the truth! You can't avoid the fact that you SUCK at parenting!" he yelled to the retreating figures of his parents._

_"__**SHUT UP, RYAN**." Marcus yelled so loud that it seemed to echo throughout the house. He grabbed his wife's hand and started to march out the entrance doors._

___Ryan looked worried for a second. "You probably woke up Sharpay." He took a quick look towards the staircase, debating whether to run up and check._

_"__GOOD." Marcus grabbed the large handle behind him and slammed the door with a bang that seemed to shake the entire mansion._

_**What did I just do?**__ Ryan thought miserably. He had an urge to cry, but he held it in and only a lone tear fell down his left cheek. His legs couldn't hold him up anymore, and he sank to his knees. He was completely disorientated and confused. And no one was there to help._

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As Ryan finished telling the story, Sharpay sat with her hands covering her mouth, completely speechless. Ryan fiddled with his hands in his lap, as silence came over the two once again. He waited for her reaction. Thankfully, it went better than expected. Sharpay crawled over to her brother and hugged him tight.

"Ry, I know we haven't ever been that close, but… I want to be. We have to be strong," she smiled, "for each other." Ryan nodded. "But I wish I could have done something…"

"I don't know how you slept through all that racket," Ryan joked.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and smirked, glad that he was okay about the argument with their parents.

"All right, Ray. I told you my story. You tell me yours."

Sharpay went stiff and pulled away suddenly. She'd been trying to avoid that subject the entire time. Her eyes darted around the room and she twisted her hands nervously.

Noticing his sister wasn't going to say anything, he spoke up. "Ray, not just anything can make a person cry like that!"

"I… I don't know how to explain it."

"Can you please try?" Ryan asked, holding her hand.

Sharpay sighed and leaned back against the cushion of the couch, trying to put words together in her mind that made some sense.

"Basically… no one… really… knows who I am."

"Well, who are you?"

"See, I don't know! But I know I'm not what everyone sees me as at school. I'm not mean, Ryan! Not really! I've just had to keep up this image because that's what keeps me popular and well liked. Ish. I feel like a geek walking through the halls, knowing I can't say 'Hi' to anyone, but in reality, I'm popular, but I don't want to be popular, and I can't _be_ happy if I can't be myself, but myself isn't mean which would make me—"

"Woah, woah. Okay, Ray, okay. I get it."

Sharpay took another deep breath. "And I don't have any friends, Ryan. Who goes through three years of high school without a best friend? I'm pathetic! Just a sad excuse for a person. Seriously! It's out senior year next year, usually a time where a person reflects on their memories of their high school career, and what do I have to show! _NOTHING!_" Sharpay ended with a yell. She swore she felt steam coming from out her ears. "There are a million other things that I can't even begin to explain… but I'm so fucking messed up, Ryan. I really am."

"No you aren't Ray. Please listen to me, you aren't!"

"Don't lie to me, Ryan!" Sharpay cried.

"I'm not lying—" Ryan stopped mid-sentence and suddenly snatched Sharpay's right wrist. She tried jerking it away, but he kept his grip. "Sharpay, what is this!" There were two faint but fresh scar lines that were visible. Sharpay's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.

"Nothing—" Sharpay answered too quickly.

"_Sharpay!_ I know exactly what this is, don't fucking lie to me. Do you cut?"

"No!" she sobbed.

"Then what the hell is _that_?"

"Nothing! I—"

"No, it's not nothing, Sharpay. Don't act like it's nothing. Now either you tell me voluntarily, or I'm going to force it out of you!"

Sharpay grabbed her wrist and started to cry. "I-I just tried it once to see how it felt, a-and I only did it one time after that, b-but I'll never do it again… I never wanted to die, Ryan… Honest." She sobbed harder.

Ryan was unbelievably upset, his lips were in a thin line, and he had his chin in his hand, shaking his head in denial. At first he couldn't speak at all. Sharpay wanted to crawl up into a ball. "Why would you do something like that, Sharpay?"

"I don't _know_. I was confused, all right?" she cried. "I don't know what I was thinking, okay? I was _wrong_. I did something stupid… again. I didn't have anyone to talk to. No one understands," she sobbed.

"Understood."

"What?" Sharpay asked, slightly confused. She sniffled lightly.

"No one _understood_. Past tense. I'm here now." Ryan said softly, and Sharpay finally got the courage to look him in the eye again.

"Don't hate me," Sharpay struggled to say through her tears.

"I could never hate you. Just _never ever_ do something like that again." He touched her wrist and traced the scars with his thumb. "If you need help, please, _please_, talk to me from now on. Okay?" He closed his eyes tight and hugged her again. "I can't imagine what I'd do without you, Ray."

"Me either," Sharpay choked out. Ryan rubbed her back and looked into her brown eyes for a moment.

"That's a really serious matter, Sharpay."

"_I know!_ I said I'd never do it again, and I seriously mean it! Please trust me!" she said frantically.

"Okay. I do, I do. I trust you. But anyway… are you feeling a little bit better now?"

"Oh, if you're talking about the ginormous weight that I feel was just lifted from my shoulders, then I am feeling a tad bit better, yeah."

"There's the Sharpay Evans I know," Ryan smiled. "Let's make a deal."

"All right. I'm listening."

"No. More. Secrets." He said with some emphasis. "I want to help you, Sharpay. I really do. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes. Okay… I like that plan."

"Pinkie swear?" He stuck out his hand, pinkie raised, and Sharpay lifted her opposite hand up and linked hers with his.

"Pinkie swear." They shook on it, and both twins sighed and leaned back on the couch. Sharpay spaced out, staring at something interesting outside on the patio, and Ryan was looking at her with a puzzled expression on his face. For a few minutes, Sharpay didn't notice, but she blinked herself out of her small reverie and met Ryan's gaze.

"What," she laughed.

"Nothin," he drawled.

"There has to be somethin'. A lot of things kinda just spilled out at once, Ryan. There has to be something brewing in your mind."

"Well I was just thinking," Ryan said, changing his position so he was facing Sharpay more, "I was yelling at mom and dad about how they couldn't see what was happening under their noses, when in reality, I didn't know what was going on under mine either."

Sharpay raised her eyebrow and nodded. "Ironic."

"Very."

Frowning once more, Sharpay looked around the room. "I need something."

"Like… what?" Ryan asked.

"I need some… ice-cream," she smirked and pulled her knees up to her chest. Ryan chuckled and stood up, walking into the kitchen.

"Sound like a good idea indeed. What kind would you like, m'dear?" He rummaged around the freezer.

"Ew. Never call me that again," she laughed.

"'K, Ray," he grinned. Sharpay's eyes twinkled brightly at her nickname.

"Chocolate." She reached over and grabbed the remote that was on the glass coffee table in front of her and turned the television on.

"Perfect choice. We're in business," he said, taking the half-eaten container out of the freezer. It was just the perfect amount for two people. He grabbed two spoons on the way back to the couch. Plopping down next to his sister, he set the tub between the two of them and handed Sharpay a spoon. They giggled as they dove into the frozen delight that lay before them. Between bites, Ryan couldn't help but sneak a glance at Sharpay's scarred wrist. He tried making it unnoticeable, but Sharpay become aware of it before long.

"Things won't ever be the same, will it, Ry?" she asked quietly, avoiding his eyes and she took another bite.

"No," he replied truthfully. Sharpay toyed with the last of the ice-cream in the container, noticeably ashamed. "Things have changed for the better, Sharpay."

She looked up and they exchanged a smile, and the two finished up the tub of chocolate fast. It wasn't long before Ryan and Sharpay both lay passed out on the couch, peacefully resting after an exhausting day. The lights from the television were lightly flickering off their bodies, and their spoons were dangling from their hands lazily. The phone rang suddenly, but the twins were fast asleep, and didn't hear a thing. The answering machine picked it up after a few rings.

_"H-Hey Sharpay and Ryan… It's Troy. If you can, call me back when you get the chance… that'd be great. Talk to you soon." _The machine beeped and shut off with a quiet click.

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_____A/N - Please don't let me resort to begging. But I will anyway. PLEASE REVIEWWWWWWW. cries _


	3. Trust

**Disclaimer:** Do I seriously have to say it? Ohhh all right. I don't own any of the characters, blahblahblah…

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_**A/N-** Much loooove to all of the reviewers. You guys complete my life, not even kidding. It's my motivation… One comment though... Yes, I love the relationship between Sharpay and Ryan… but there's not going to be any incest… Just major friendship. This is definitely going to be a **Sharpay/Troy** story now… Yes, the way this chapter is heading, it's most certainly S/T… so… no Ryan/Sharpay. Sorry guys. lmao. I mean, in some stories I read... rock on R/S. But not in this story. Ahaha. _

_**Awesome reviewers that I need to comment on:**_

_**Brokenmagicdewgong:** You will indeed be seeing more of the "Icequeen" Sharpay, but not in this chapter… The whole first part of this story is showing a different side of Sharpay. Expect Miss. Icequeen in way later chapters. :)_

_**Charlenempasp:** No incest, like I said before, but my mind is pondering whether Sharpay should keep cutting or not… Still not sure, so I'd like some thoughts on it. :D_

_**Cancer'sDeath:** Ahahaahaa Thanks for the review, and sorry about the begging… It's just there are a ton of hits, and not that many reviews… I get sad. lol. But thank you for the splendid comment. :D_

_**kawabunga555:** Your question gets answered this chapter. Don't you worry :D_

_And to **LadyLupinLover, Freeing Alys**_,**Mai 3**, _ and **MissLovelyx3**, your reviews like, brought me to tears. LMAO. Seriously, ahhh I wanted to start doing cartwheels when I read them. Thank you for such great words, it means **sooo** much to me._

_And to **everyone** else who reviewed, I really incredibly appreciate it. Haha. Anywayyy.. On with the story :D_

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Ryan awoke first, and he gazed at the clock, which he squinted and read that it was 7:42pm. He yawned, stood up and stretched, picking up his spoon that fell on the floor. The television was still on, the darkening sky making the living room light up with each flashing image. He looked over at Sharpay who was still curled up in a ball on the coach. Her sleeping figure moved slightly and she changed positions and sighed. His brain flashed back to the image of her fragile body clinging onto him, and her cries haunted his mind. It broke his heart once again. He had to look away and he shut his eyes and shook his head lightly, trying to forget about how much pain Sharpay was in at that moment in time. Trying to clear his mind and clean up a bit, Ryan took the spoons and the chocolate ice cream container back into the kitchen.

On his way to the sink, he noticed the little red light blinking on the answering machine. Suddenly puzzled, he reached over and pushed the 'play' button, and put the spoons in the sink with a clank. He turned the faucet on and cleaned the silverware quickly as the machine started to play the newest message.

"_H-Hey Sharpay and Ryan… It's Troy…"_ Ryan did a double take and listened to the rest of Troy's message, leaving the water running.

_That's odd, _Ryan thought as the machine finished and shut off, the only sound left in the room being the sink. He blinked and realized it was still running and he turned the handle so the water stopped. _Wonder what he's up to… I'll have to remember to call him tomorrow, _he thought as he walked back into the living room.

"Seems as if I've spent this whole day sleeping," Sharpay said yawning.

"Hey," Ryan said laughing, "it was well deserved. How long have you been up?"

"I heard the answering machine go off a minute ago. Who called?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Yeah, see, that's the weird thing," Ryan said sitting down next to his sister, "it was Troy."

Sharpay swallowed and her heart did a back flip, but she was casual. "Troy?"

"Yeah, he wants us to call him back. He didn't say why though."

Sharpay sat back and tried thinking of all possible the reasons why, out of all people, Troy Bolton would call the Evan's house, on a _Wednesday_ evening no less. But her mind came up short.

"That is _so _random!" she said trying to keep a grin off her face. _Please don't let him notice… _she pleaded.

Ryan had a growing suspicion but he didn't say anything about it. "I'm going to call him tomorrow," he said, waiting for a reaction. Sharpay resisted the urge to say anything stupid that would make it obvious that she had a thing for Troy, and she tried finding words to respond back, but she ended up just shutting her mouth, raising her eyebrows and nodding with a smile.

"C-Cool," she managed to say after a few moments. Ryan looked at her strangely. "What," Sharpay said smoothly, covering up her nervousness, "did I grow an extra head or something?"

Ryan chuckled, "Yeah! It's right _there,_" he said pointing, "and it's all green and slimy and hairy…"

"Eww!" she squealed and she swatted his hand away playfully. That was one of Sharpay's specialties. She covered up a lot of her emotions with her sarcasm; she could get away with almost anything. That's why she was such a good actress. Smiling inwardly that she sidetracked Ryan off the subject of Troy, Sharpay suddenly yawned again. "I'm gonna… head up to my room, you know, hang out there for the rest of the night. I have a lot to think about. Night, Ry." She turned around and started to head towards the hallway that lead to the stairs.

"You _know _you are not leaving me for the night without another hug, right?" Ryan smiled and stood up.

Sharpay turned around, absolutely beaming. She giggled as she ran over to her brother and she jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. He picked her up and spun her around, earning more laughter from Sharpay. "Thank you, Ryan. For everything."

"Now go to bed, you lil' punk," Ryan said, putting Sharpay back on the ground.

"Night, dawg," she said, leaving the room with a gangster sign.

"Night, Sharpay," Ryan said, laughing at her retreating figure. He sat back down on the couch, and started flipping through all the channels.

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The hot and humid summer weather made Sharpay feel sluggish as the temperature changed from the air-conditioned luxury of the first floor, to the warm breeze blowing in through all the open windows on the second. She stripped of her t-shirt and red sweatpants and changed into some blue boxer shorts and a white wife-beater. Sharpay wasn't all that tired, but she had to have time alone to think and sort out her thoughts. But there was only one person that Sharpay's mind could focus on at the time. _Troy God Damn Bolton. _Sharpay didn't know his middle name, but she figured that suited him well enough. Her heart leapt at the thought of his name, and a smile crawled onto her lips as she pictured his face. _His gorgeous… perfect… flawless face._ She giggled like a little schoolgirl. But her smile quickly faded as she pictured Gabriella, Troy's girlfriend. _They're perfect for each other, _Sharpay thought depressingly. _Maybe a little **too **perfect? _Hope lingered in her chest, but it didn't last long. Being optimistic really wasn't one of Sharpay's strongest points.

She collapsed on her bed and she lay on her stomach on top of her covers, for it was far too hot to be under them. Her mind quickly replayed events that happened that afternoon.

"_Why the hell would you do something like that, Sharpay?"_

"_I don't **know**!"_

She cringed and tried erasing that memory from her brain.

"_No. More. Secrets."_

Her mind pondered that thought for a moment. She decided she really liked that idea. But the catch was, Sharpay still had a ton more things Ryan didn't know about her. _He'll know eventually, _she figured. _Don't want to overload him with too much information._

Ryan's voice was heard again. "_Yeah, see, that's the weird thing… It was Troy."_

The millisecond her mind started thinking about Troy once more, Sharpay smiled and giggled. She couldn't help it; it just happened. Frustrated, she rolled her eyes and turned so she was lying on her back and she took her pillow and hit herself in the face a couple times, laughing. "I. Can't. Like. Troy." She repeated as the cotton made contact with her skin. She grunted and let go of the pillow so it rested on her face. But she couldn't stop thinking about him, no matter what she did to try and stop herself. _But wait… why would he ask for both Ryan **and** me? Maybe… maybe he… _Sharpay let her mind wander once again. She was a dreamer, she loved letting her imagination get the best of her, whether it was good or bad.

Her first scenario she thought up was that Troy called and wanted to say goodbye because he was moving across the country. She imagined the brim of his eyes filled with tears… Sharpay was suddenly horror-struck at that thought and felt like mentally slapping herself for even _dreaming up_ something that atrocious. So she just hit herself in the face with the pillow again. Second scenario, _maybe, _she thought excitedly, _he'll admit his undying and everlasting love for me! Yeah! _Her thought was very sarcastic, but just for a second, she let her heart believe that statement. But the reality of the situation took over her mind once again, and it shattered that thought. She was just about to lift the pillow and hit herself again, when there was a knock on the door.

"What?" she said, her voice muffled.

"Can I have my pillow back?" Ryan laughed from behind the door. Sharpay sighed, but couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

Ryan opened up the door and Sharpay lazily chucked the pillow in his general direction. She turned her head sleepily to face his.

"There's your frickin' pillow," she said smiling.

"Yeah, nice throw," he said mockingly, walking forward a bit and leaning over to pick it up.

"Hey! That was with my right hand!" Sharpay said trying to defend herself.

He rolled his eyes. "Lefties."

Sharpay was going to shoot another comeback at him, but then decided it wasn't worth it. He closed the door softly, and after a short time, she drifted off into a dreamless peaceful sleep, feeling a tiny ray of happiness for the first time in a long while.

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The next afternoon, Sharpay was in the den, busy browsing the internet for anything interesting that caught her attention and Ryan was in the next room, sitting on the couch, holding the phone in his hand. Sharpay wasn't the only one wondering what the heck Troy was up to. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him, and he dialed Troy's number and lifted the phone to his ear. The phone rang a couple times before he heard a male voice pick up. 

"_Hello?"_

"Hey, this is Ryan Evans… Is Troy there?"

"_This is Troy… Hey Ryan!"_

"Hey!" There was a slight pause. "You called last night?" he inquired.

"_Yeah! Yeah, okay, so me, Gabriella, Chad and Taylor were chilling out, thinking about the winter and spring musical, well, basically our junior year in general… Once you know, everything got cleared up… you guys seemed really cool to be around. And we got so close over the rest of the year, and I just realized that I haven't seen you or Sharpay since school ended… what kind of a friend is that? Whaddya say? You wanna hang out sometime?"_

Ryan smiled. So maybe Troy wasn't all that bad. "You know, that sounds really cool. I know it's going to mean _a lot_ to Sharpay." He hesitated, not knowing whether he should go on, but he ended up explaining himself a bit. "I… I'm not going to say much, but Sharpay's been… having a tough time lately… with… different things. And I know I can't always understand what she's talking about, I'm a guy." He laughed.

"_Oh, yeah, I see."_ Troy itched to ask what happened to her, but he kept his mouth shut. "_So how 'bout it? Sound fun? Or do you completely hate it?"_

"Oh! No! That sounds awesome! We've been cooped up here bored out of our minds, this place gets kinda lonely when it's just two people here."

"_Dude! You have the place to yourselves?"_

"Yeah! Parents went on… a vacation." An idea popped into Ryan's brain. "Do… do you guys want to hang out over here?"

Troy was surprised. _"Would… that be okay?"_

"Of course! I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't."

"_I feel like I just invited myself over," _Troy laughed. "_You really don't have to say yes. We could always hang at my place."_

"No, hey," Ryan laughed also, "seriously, it's cool."

"_So… okay, where, when, what time?"_

"My house, tomorrow, say… noon time?" Ryan asked, up for suggestions.

"_Sounds awesome! I'll tell the crew. It'll be me, Gabriella, Chad and Taylor," _Troy said, confirming what's going on.

"Okay then! Tomorrow it is… see you then!"

"_Catch you later, Ryan!"_

He heard Troy's phone click off and the dull dial tone rang in Ryan's ear. He shut his phone off also. He jogged to the den saying, "Sharpaaaaaaayyy…." sounding out the last syllable of her name until he got to the door. Sharpay paused what she was doing on the computer and spun around in her chair.

"Whaaaaaaat?" she said imitating him.

"Guess who's coming over tomorrow!"

"Uh… you got me," she said, throwing up her hands. "Who?"

"It's going to be me, you, Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, and Chad."

Sharpay would have responded, but her ears stopped listening after Troy's name was mentioned. Ryan looked at her, waiting for some type of reaction.

"Are you… okay with that?"

"Oh!" she said quickly. "Yeah! It's sweet! It's… gonna be awesome! I hope we're not too boring for them," she joked.

"Boring?" Ryan asked. "In this house? Girl, please," he laughed, putting his hands on his hips.

"Okay, okay. You have a point." Sharpay smiled and seemed perfectly calm and collected on the outside, but inside she felt like her heart was going to explode right out of her chest. Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.

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Around noon time the next day, the doorbell echoed loudly throughout the mansion. Ryan yelled for Sharpay to answer the door because he was busy.

Sharpay felt like she was going to puke.

Her heart pounded so loudly, she was afraid Ryan could hear it from the kitchen. Swallowing her fear, she slowly walked up to the door and turned the handle on the door.

And there he stood.

Troy's loopy half smile shown on his face brightly, and his shaggy brown hair lay perfectly atop his head. His blue eyes twinkled when he saw who opened up the door. Sharpay tried to keep her jaw from hanging down. _How on **earth **does a guy get even **more** gorgeous within a couple weeks of school ending_? _Impossible, maybe,_ Sharpay thought, _but Troy just proved that wrong. God damn. _She was just about to choke out a reply, but Troy interrupted her.

"Sharpay! You look… different," he smiled.

_Oh honey, I'm not the only one who looks different… SHIT, _she cursed; she just realized why he mentioned that. _I'm wearing no make-up, no accessories… Plain jean shorts and a blue tank top? How the hell did I forget? _If Sharpay had a pillow in her hand, she _knew _she'd be hitting herself with it at this moment.

"Different in a good way, or different in a bad way?" Sharpay asked more shy than normal. _Since when am I shy? _

"Bad," Troy joked.

"Oh, thanks," Sharpay blushed.

"Of course in a good way!" He smiled. _Oh good lord, his smile. _Sharpay swore she was a puddle on the floor. She felt like one anyway. _I'm falling for him **bad. **_She meekly accepted his flattering remark.

"Hey Gabriella!" Sharpay said to the person standing behind Troy, trying to stop the embarrassment.

"Hey," she replied simply, but her smile was certainly genuine. Looking around a bit, Sharpay was suddenly confused.

"Hey, uh... Where's Chad and Taylor?"

"Oh!" Gabriella perked up, "It was like, their four-month anniversary or something… They called a couple hours ago and bailed out. I guess it's okay though, it's a reasonable excuse."

"_I guess_…" Sharpay said dramatically, which made the three teenagers laugh. "Come on in!" She opened the door wider and let Troy and Gabriella step through the doors into the main part of the house.

"So… you really have it tough here, huh?" Troy said sarcastically, trying to look in every direction at once. The sight was exhilarating for him. Gabriella was just in awe. Sharpay just laughed and fiddled with her hands uncomfortably. She didn't like talking about money or wealth, or anything of the sort. Troy cocked his head at Sharpay cutely.

"No… sly remark? No insult? Where's the Sharpay I know?"

Sharpay couldn't help but smile. "Well, I guess you don't know the real Sharpay then," she replied quietly. She gained enough courage to bring her gaze up and look into Troy's electrifying sky-blue eyes. The world seemed to slow down to a halt and seconds that ticked by were like hours. All Sharpay could hear were her breathing and her own heart beating within her. Strange thing was, Troy was staring back with the same intensity. She couldn't explain it. There was this fiery sensation burning deep inside her wanting to burst out… yet at the same time, the other half of her was trying with all her might to put out that fire. But their gazes were locked on each other, neither wanting to look away.

Ryan waltzed into the room and looked back and forth between the two a couple times and raised his eyebrow. He smiled, coughed and cleared his throat and patted Troy's back.

"C'mon, Troy. We'll leave these ladies to do… lady stuff. I'll show you our entertainment wing."

Troy's jaw dropped as Ryan steered him away from the girls. "_Wing? _Not just a room, but a _wing?" _he said in disbelief.

Sharpay and Gabriella laughed and they stood alone. Sharpay drew a circle with her foot on the hardwood floor.

"So… you wanna see my room?"

Gabriella's eyes lit up. "Sure!"

Sharpay stared at the floor as she lead Gabriella up the large marble staircase, still embarrassed about what happened between herself and Troy. He hadn't even been there ten minutes, and Sharpay had already done something to make it awkward between them.

"Didn't know you were ever this shy, Sharpay," Gabriella smiled as they reached the topmost step. Sharpay glanced over her shoulder and blushed.

"Oh… I… I'm sorry—"

"No! No, I kinda like it. It's… different, but I like it," Gabriella said honestly.

Sharpay didn't respond, but a smile did creep on her face as she turned the doorknob into her room. Again, Gabriella was in awe. The light pink painted walls were illuminated in the afternoon sun, making the room seem much brighter than normal. Her king-sized bed was in the back corner raised on a platform that separated two areas. It was sprinkled with some hot celebrity posters and a couple shelves that matched the white carpet. A walk-in closet was to the left of the door, and the bathroom was on the right. It was a very girly room indeed.

"I think my entire house could fit in your room, by the way," Gabriella said with a chuckle, still looking around. Sharpay smiled and shrugged, but didn't respond. Gabriella's face was calm, but concern was visible in her features. "Sharpay, are you okay?"

Sharpay looked away and rubbed her neck. She nodded, but Gabriella didn't buy it. Sharpay walked over and sat on her bed, and Gabriella followed suit.

"I was talking to Troy on the way here…" Gabriella started to say cautiously. "He said that Ryan said on the phone that you, uh…"

Sharpay was suddenly alert and tense. "What did Ryan say?"

"H-He just said that you… you've been having a tough time lately."

The two teenage girls sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"To tell you the truth," Sharpay sighed after a brief period, "I've had a lot of these serious conversations in the past week. It's tiring me out," she laughed.

Gabriella laughed also. "Then I'll keep it short and to the point. Look, I've known you since I moved here last winter, and _yes _there have been some like… rough times, but I'm willing to look past them and you know, maybe something good will come out of it?"

Sharpay rubbed her arm and stared at her comforter, thinking deep and hard. What if it was all an act? Could she trust Gabriella? What made her change her mind so quickly? Sharpay didn't know if she was ready to now have two people in this world knowing all of her secrets. Not when just a week ago nobody knew at all. But the look in Gabriella's eyes was serious, and she figured she didn't have to know _everything _off the back. Sharpay nodded hesitantly, not about to find the right words to say. But, you know, Sharpay was really beginning to like this whole "friend-having" thing.

"It's going to take some time." Sharpay surprised herself, she didn't mean to blurt that out, but she was glad it was said.

"I know…" Gabriella said, picking at the pink threads on the covers. "It's just…" Gabriella sighed. "I need a friend too."

Sharpay's face softened, but it soon turned to a confused expression. "How'd you kn—"

"I could just tell. And probably because we may be more alike than you think."

"What about Taylor? I thought she was one of your good friends." Sharpay hoped that didn't sound mean.

Gabriella rolled her eyes "She's _always_ with Chad. And whenever I _am_ with her, Chad's all she ever talks about."

"What about T-Troy?" Sharpay asked with a stutter. "You don't talk to him?"

"Troy's a dude. Dudes can't talk about girly things. Actually," Gabriella said remembering, "I _did _have a conversation about tampons with him just the other day, but he got so grossed out, I thought he was going to faint!"

Sharpay laughed and scooted up more on her bed. "Ryan and I… we've always been kinda close… But I talk about those things all the time to him. He's used to it," she giggled.

"Are you serious? That's awesome! I wish I had a brother like that!"

"Yeah," Sharpay cracked a smile, "Ryan's really somethin else. He's always been there for me… he's been basically my only friend my entire life. Even though it seems like I have everything, I really don't."

"You know, Sharpay, you're pretty cool," Gabriella said truthfully. Sharpay turned red and couldn't respond back. "Sharpay!" Gabriella laughed. "You were _never _like this in school! I don't think I _ever _saw you blush _once_ this past year. And when I got here, I've seen you blush about six times!"

Again, Sharpay was embarrassed. "Oh. The 'School-Sharpay'… That's not me… well, I don't know who I am, really," she tried to explain. "I'm who everyone thinks I am, and I'm not sure who that is either…"

"That's confusing," Gabriella giggled.

"Yeah I know. I've tried explaining this to Ryan also. It's hard. No one really cared enough to get to know the real Sharpay… whoever that is."

"Well, I want to know." They smiled and couldn't resist the urge to reach over and hug each other.

"Ohhh… here we go with the hugs," Sharpay said laughing as she squeezed Gabriella tight.

"I'm guessing you've had a ton of these also?" Gabriella asked while she pulled away. Sharpay nodded solemnly. "I won't ask what happened. When or if you ever want to tell me, I'm here to listen."

"I just have a question…" Sharpay said slowly. "Why… why now? Why… so suddenly? I mean, I was so cruel to you…"

"You _were. _But… I forgive you. Honestly. I... I want to get to know you, Sharpay."

"Ray?" They heard Ryan shout from the first floor, interrupting their conversation.

"Oh my god, that's _so _adorable! He has a nickname for you? _Awww!_"

Sharpay shoved Gabriella, but they both laughed.

"Yeah, Ry?" she yelled back his nickname, only to see how Gabriella would react. Gabriella just happily clapped her hands.

"You guys are so cute!" she squealed.

"Me and Troy are gonna get a bite to eat somewhere in town. You guys wanna come?"

"Only if I can drive!" Sharpay shouted back, grinning sweetly even though Ryan wasn't there to see it.

"Yeah, yeah, I figured. Can you guys be ready in fifteen minutes?"

Sharpay ran over to her door so she didn't have to shout as loud. "Make it thirty, and we'll _definitely_ be ready."

"Thirty it is then." The girls heard him sign in defeat.

Gabriella scrunched up her nose, "Anything I can wear?" she asked timidly.

"Girl, have you _seen _my closet?"

"Good point."

The girls raced over to Sharpay's walk-in closet, trying on countless outfits, neither knowing both of them were looking to impress the same boy.

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_**A/N – **Wahoo! IT FINALLY FRIGGIN WORKS. OH MY GOD.. I promised this would be posted a LONG time ago, and at first I didn't post it because one of my friends had to read it so I could figure out if it was good or not.. Haha. SHOUT OUT TO LIN-Z! I love her :D ha. And THEN I tried posting it, and it wasn't working FOREVER. I wanted to shoot my computer countless times. You have no idea. But it works now, that's all that matters. Anyway, I've started on an outline of the start of the 4th chapter, but I'm always up for some sweet suggestions. Maybe I will use someone's idea in later chapters! Ya never know… **4th chapter includes a call from the Evan's parents from Vegas…** muahaahaaa. You know, when I started this story, it was originally going to be a Sharpay/Gabriella story. But I'm going to save that for a whoooole other story, man. That's why originally, I didn't know whether it was going to be a Sharpay/Troy story or not… Heh. Just a little background informationnnn.. :D Comments are appreciated. :D See? I'm not begging, I'm just telling you I like them. :D_


	4. Le Masque and Maturity

_**Disclaimer:** Nothin'. I own nothin'. 'Cept the plot._

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**A/N:** So I feel totally and completely bad about not updating…. And this is a kinda short chapter. Actually, it's like, mega-small compared to the last ones. I'm sorry guys. I've been busy, track's started (YAY), and I've had a crapload of homework.. Hmmph. But I **have** been working on it. I promise! I'm SO not abandoning this story. **Ever.** Not until it's done._

_Oh, another note… Yes, this is indeed a Sharpay/Troy story… BUT it's not going to be that "goodie-goodie" LYKEOHEMMGEE-I-LUV-U type stories. I hate to tell you this, but love doesn't usually happen that way. And also the friendship between Sharpay and Gabriella… Let me just say that friendship takes time also. Yes it all happened quite fast… but it's going on a bumpy ride soon. Not in this chapter… but.. yeah. I've said enough. :D _

_To _**all**_ the people who took the time and reviewed… I love you! Wahoo!_

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The girls were ready and dressed in the best outfits they could find, to their humble opinions of course. They were both decked out in jewelry and any accessory you could think of. The guys… well, the guys really didn't care about what they looked like. They didn't change at all.

"Hello, ladies," Troy said as Sharpay and Gabriella walked down the stairs to show off their attire they chose. Sharpay was wearing simple white capris and a snug yellow halter, and Gabriella was wearing frayed jean shorts with a cute little pink lacy top. Both were showered with countless accessories and just enough make-up to bring out their best features. It was now Troy's turn to try and keep his jaw closed. Except, he didn't succeed.

Ryan checked his watch. "Twenty-eight minutes and thirty-two seconds. Not bad, girls." He nodded in approval.

"Thanks. We try," Sharpay laughed.

"So, how do we look?" Gabriella asked as both herself and Sharpay did a little twirl to show off.

"Gorgeous," Troy said looking Gabriella over, and he switched his attention and let his eyes linger on Sharpay for a bit longer than he planned. He caught himself quickly and he flushed and turned to Gabriella. "When do you not?" he added, giving his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips. A slight pang of jealousy came over Sharpay, but she let it slide. They were boyfriend and girlfriend! They're allowed to kiss. _I guess… _Sharpay thought sadly.

"So, we all ready to go?" Sharpay asked. The three other teenagers nodded in agreement. Sharpay walked over to the door and opened it up. "Ladies first," she said, bowing and motioning for the boys to pass.

"Oh, _haha_, funny," Troy said as he passed Sharpay. She just grinned.

Sharpay was the last one out the door, and the group headed down a short path towards the garage. The summer sun was beaming down, making the breeze warm and inviting. Sharpay took a deep breath of the air, feeling very content indeed. She pressed a button on her car keys so the door opened up creakily.

"Which car do you want to take?" Ryan asked quietly to Sharpay.

"Dad took his car. We could take mom's."

"How about mine?" Ryan said pointing to a shiny silver car near the left side of the garage.

"No, actually, let's go with mine. I like my car." Sharpay nodded her head.

"Your old one of your new one?"

"New one! Definitely," she said, referring to a black car directly to her right.

Troy and Gabriella stood frozen, jaws ajar at the sight of so many expensive cars.

"Are you kidding? Do you even know the kinds of cars these are?" Troy asked as he looked around the entire garage.

"No… not really," Sharpay replied, eyebrow raised. "All I know is _these ones _are mine."

"_Spoiled brat_…" Ryan joked under his breath.

"Hey! I heard that! Meanie! For that, Gabriella just earned shotgun," Sharpay added with a 'hmmph'.

"Ooo," Ryan taunted. He earned a punch on the arm from his sister.

"Now, now, twinnies… No fighting," Troy teased.

"Do you want me to punch you also, Mister? 'Cause… I'll do it." Sharpay eyed Troy as the four kids opened up the doors on the car and sat down inside. Sharpay adjusted her mirror and she glanced in it and saw Troy looking at her. Her heart fluttered. "Have something else to say, Mr. Bolton?"

Troy stuck out his tongue.

"Oh, well, that's mature." Sharpay put her keys in the ignition and started her car. She put the car in reverse and turned around to steer the car out of the garage. Troy moved his body around to try and block her vision. "Troy!" she laughed. "I hate you! Move!" Troy didn't move. "Ryan, can you please smack him for me?"

"No, actually, I think it's pretty funny," Ryan said snickering. Sharpay scoffed.

"Well then. I just so happen to hate you both at the moment. I only love Gabriella now."

"Aww, yay!" Gabriella chuckled. Once the car was out, Sharpay put the car in drive and drove down her long driveway and onto the road.

"Blinker and everything! Wow!" Troy noticed. "I'm impressed," he joked.

"I know how to drive, you boob." Sharpay turned a corner.

"Ryan…" Troy whined, "Sharpay called me a boob."

"Actually, Troy, you are a boob." Gabriella chimed in, turning around to face him. "I agree."

"I am _so _not a boob! Since when did this happen!"

"You've _always _been a boob... Duh!" Gabriella said laughing.

There was a red light, so Sharpay slowed down to a stop. Good thing too, because she was doubled over in laughter. "Stop saying the word _boob! _You guys are acting like four-year-olds!"

"You started it!" Troy said pointing. Sharpay sneered and stuck out her tongue. "Oh, who's being mature _now?_" he asked with his arms crossed.

Ryan was quiet, and he sat back and watched Troy, Sharpay and Gabriella go back and forth, and he just had to smile. This was _exactly _what Sharpay needed. Everything was working out perfectly. Sharpay was happy. That's all he cared about.

"So where do you want to eat?" Sharpay asked as she cruised down a main avenue.

"There's this cute little café-type diner I know of on Banyan Drive. I went there with my family once. Sound okay?" Gabriella suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Sharpay said nodding her head. "Want me to park the car so we can just walk there?"

"Another good plan," Troy piped up. "Ohh, let's see how good your parking skills are."

Sharpay laughed, "What's with you and wanting to pick on my driving skills? Goodness!"

"I just like picking on you," Troy shrugged. "Plus, it's something to do," he winked.

Sharpay slowed down the car and pulled into a parking spot. "No parking meter…" She turned around and checked the car on both sides. "Perfect parallel parking job… if I may say so myself… I'm just awesome." Sharpay concluded. The group chuckled.

They stepped out of the car and started walking towards the café that was a few blocks away. Sharpay saw out of the corner of her eye that Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand and they were happily swinging it back and forth as they walked. She heard Gabriella giggle. Sharpay tried not letting herself get jealous again, but she couldn't help it. _Troy is Gabriella's boyfriend. Not mine. Get it through your stupid head, Sharpay. _She glanced over at Ryan who was to her right, and Ryan caught her eye with a look of understanding. She quickly looked straight ahead. _He knows… _she thought worriedly. _How does he know? Wait… maybe he doesn't know. Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions, _she thought as she pulled open the café door. But a part of her could feel it. Ryan knew.

The boys sat on one end of the booth and the girls on the other. The waitress came around the corner, greeted them kindly, and handed each person a menu and left to give them time to look it over.

"So, what foods do they have here?" Sharpay asked while opening the menu and looking at the contents inside.

"Oh… everything. Seriously, this place is the _best_," Gabriella said with enthusiasm.

"I think I'm just in the mood for a salad," Sharpay frowned. Her expression lightened up as she finalized her decision and she leaned back and put her menu down.

Gabriella raised her eyebrow and looked at Sharpay strangely. "Are you _joking me_? I'm gonna get a plate of onion rings for an appetizer, a large chicken fingers platter with a huge-ass order of french fries and a giant sprite and I'll _still_ have room for dessert!" The group burst out in laughter. "What! I'm _serious!_" Gabriella laughed along.

Troy looked to his left at the blonde boy sitting next to him. "Ryan, you're being mighty quiet," he noticed. Ryan just smiled and shrugged.

"Sorry…"

"Jeeze," Gabriella joked, her brown eyes twinkling, "what's with these Evans' twins being so shy out of school? Who woulda' known?"

Ryan and Sharpay rolled their eyes, but they couldn't help but laugh, because… it was true. The waitress came back and the four placed their orders. The food came soon enough, and their late lunch was filled with laughter and the four getting to know each other better. But not fifteen minutes after their food was served, Ryan's cell phone began to ring, interrupting their conversation.

"Who's that?" Sharpay asked while covering her mouth, for it was full of food.

"Sharpay, don't talk with your mouth full! Where are your manners, young lady?" Troy scolded. Sharpay threw a piece of lettuce in his direction.

'I covered my mouth!" she tried defending herself.

Ryan stared at the phone, almost in disbelief as he saw who was calling. He briefly glanced at Sharpay, excused himself politely, and then quickly bolted from the table. Troy, Gabriella, and Sharpay stopped what they were doing and each looked at one another, not knowing how to handle the situation. They looked at the figure of Ryan outside, who was just visible through the window. Sharpay swallowed her food slowly and set down her fork. She then began to chew on her thumbnail anxiously, her eyes never leaving her brother.

* * *

Ryan glanced at the phone one more time before he flipped it open and put it to his ear. 

"What?" Ryan said angrily.

"_Ryan…" _The voice of Marcus was heard. "_Ryan, we wanted to talk."_

"There's nothing to talk about, _father._" He turned his back to avoid glances from people passing by on the sidewalk. Luckily, the street was pretty much empty.

"_Yes there is, damn it!" _Marcus shot back. Veronica was heard in the background, telling Marcus to settle down. "_Ryan, look… We're—" _he hesitated. "_We're sorry,"_ Marcus finally spit out.

"Good!" Ryan said, almost laughing. "You should be!"

"_We're trying to apologize here!"_

"Well, an apology isn't good enough!"

"_Don't go acting like a damn kid, be mature about something for once!" _

Ryan was taken aback. "Mature! _Mature, _Dad? You want me to be mature! You have _got _to be kidding. At seven years old I was already taking care of myself _and_ Sharpay like _I _was the head of the family! While you and Mom went on tons of stupid long vacations. You're saying I'm not mature? You don't care about your only son and daughter! How's _that _for mature? And don't you _dare_ even try and act like you do, Dad."

"_Stop saying that, Ryan. For God's sake! We care! We gave you everything you've ever asked for. And more."_

"And did that make us happy?" Marcus didn't answer. "I _said, _did that make us happy?" Ryan repeated.

"_Well… I…" _he trailed off.

"Yeah, see? Point taken. Thanks, _Dad. _For everything. The _second _you and Mom closed that door, I lost total faith in you both."

Veronica took over the phone. "_Look, we're coming home early_."

"No! Me and Sharpay like it better here without you!" Silence. "Never come back! Ever!" Ryan added.

"_Why are you saying this, Ryan?" _Veronica asked, almost in tears.

"The day you left, you didn't give a shit about Sharpay _or _myself, _until_ I told you that she was crying upstairs, and she was hurting. Oh, only _then _did your sensitive side come out. You were sitting in the dining room, completely oblivious. And when I told you the first time, you made a joke about it. Deny it as you might, but you didn't _care _about her then, and you _still _don't care about either of us! Everything's an act."

"_That's not true—"_

"Yes it is, and you know it!" Ryan cried. He flipped down his phone and hung up on his parents. He rolled his eyes and was on the verge of tears and he was just about to put it in his pocket of his jeans when it started ringing again. He flipped it open. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" he yelled.

"_Listen to me—" _Marcus started.

"No! I don't want to listen to you right now! You hurt Sharpay and I _bad. _And we're _still _not over it! Okay? I don't want to talk to you now; I don't want to talk to you ever! DON'T FUCKING CALL AGAIN!" Ryan flipped his phone down.

* * *

**

* * *

**

Troy and Gabriella looked back and forth between Sharpay and Ryan. Sharpay wasn't even registering anything the couple was saying or doing. She was too absorbed watching Ryan. She saw Ryan close his phone for the second time, and he leaned against the brick wall to his left for support as he brought one of his hands to his face. Sharpay vaguely muttered that she needed to help her brother and she darted from the table, leaving Gabriella and Troy alone. They watched as Sharpay pushed open the door and ran up to Ryan. Ryan didn't even have to look up; he knew it was Sharpay. He accepted her hug gratefully and broke down further. Gabriella saw that Ryan seemed exasperated and tears were flowing freely from his eyes. Sharpay seemed to be starting to cry also, and she was listening intently while Ryan talked.

"What is going on?" Troy asked while trying to move his head to get a better look. It had been a good six minutes that had already passed since Sharpay went outside.

"I wish I knew," Gabriella whispered. They watched the twins in silence for a moment. Ryan was making hand motions as if totally frustrated and distraught. Sharpay was nodding, but not saying a word.

"Didn't you say that Sharpay was different?" Troy questioned. He saw that Sharpay was now the one talking. Ryan was the one listening.

"Yeah! She's actually really shy and she's cool to be around. I guess I just never gave her a chance before. But… I'm guessing that something is seriously wrong. I'm thinking that this is that 'tough times' Ryan was talking about. But what he didn't tell you on the phone is that it's tough times for the _both _of them. Wait, where did Ryan say their parents were?" Ryan was talking again. Sharpay was shaking her head, as if she was disagreeing with something Ryan was saying.

"A vacation…" Troy said distantly, he was too busy trying to decipher the situation happening outside. He watched as Sharpay lifted her hand and wiped away a tear on Ryan's cheek. They talked for a while longer, and suddenly Ryan straightened up and Sharpay brushed him off. She grabbed both of his hands and made sure he was looking into her eyes as she talked. Troy wished he could read lips.

Gabriella shook her head. "Troy, I don't think their parents went on a vacation—"

"Shh, they're coming inside," Troy said urgently.

Sharpay walked inside first, Ryan following after. Both twins looked distressed. They slowly made their way back to the table and rejoined Troy and Gabriella.

"Sorry," Sharpay apologized, "we had a small… uh… family emergency. Everything's fine though. Hakuna Matata." She forced a smile.

There it was, Gabriella noticed. The mask. It seemed so obvious, she could see straight through it now. Gabriella looked into Sharpay's eyes as if to ask 'Really?'. Sharpay looked down and avoided eye contact. Gabriella took that as a 'no'. She squeezed Sharpay's hand to silently tell her she was there. Sharpay looked up and smiled faintly.

Ryan and Sharpay tried not to let the phone call from their parents ruin the magnificent day they were having. The two brunettes tried lightening the mood, and for the most part, it worked greatly. Troy was back to poking fun at Sharpay, and Gabriella was joining Sharpay in making fun of Troy, and Ryan was there laughing along with the rest of them.

From the outside, a person walking by would have seen four joyous teenagers, laughing and joking merrily. It seemed like they were the happiest bunch of kids in the entire area.

It's amazing how many people jump so easily to conclusions.

* * *

**

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**

_**A/N-** Sorry it's so short guys! I feel sooo bad. This is basically a filler chapter. I needed this one to get on with what I wanted to do in later chapters. So, I'm sorry this one didn't live up the standards of the other chapters… The next ones will be better, I promise! And they'll be longer, too. Again, sorry for the wait! _


	5. Crash, Crumble, and Repair

**Disclaimer:** Don't own High School Musical. Woahhhh.

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**_  
A/N:_**_ So yes. Fifth installment. I knowwww it takes me forever and a half to update, but it's incredibly hard for me to update fast, because I'm crazily busy. I'm staying up until 12am almost every night typing bits and pieces of this…Yeah it's fun. Anyway, I've figured out vaguely how I want to end this fanfic, which won't be too soon, but it won't be too much later also. _

_I would comment on a lot of people's reviews… but this one I feel the need to._

**_To: "trumpetrulez101's" cousin: _**_Oh man. I HAD to comment on this. Uhh.. Just so you know, I'm a twin also, so I know how twins act. And you said that "brothers and sisters respect their space and dont get to close." Umm, yeah, some siblings actually **do **get close... Maybe that's just you believing that. Since you're the "jury". Hahahaaaa, this part made me laugh: "Really geek, get off the computer and get your short, stubby fingers off the keyboard and go and get a tan." Yeah baby! Who was blessed with Native American skin? Ooh! **Me!** Ahahahaaa. So I don't have to worry about that tan part. :D And yes, this is actually one of the things I do for fun, just to answer that question._

_So, all in all, I have to say, out of roughly 109 reviews, one bad one isn't too shabby. I actually find it quite hilarious. So thank you **"trumpetrulez101's" cousin**, you just made my first milestone on (and by the way, why would you give your "cousin" your password to your fanfiction account? I'm not stupid. But I'm not going to make any assumptions.) Oh man._

_Pahahaaaa. I caution you though. **A lot of brotherly/sisterly love in this chapter. WATCH OUT!** So. For anyone who wants to read my "extremely disturbing fan-fic", you can read on. _;)

_(and thank you to all the loyal reviewers, you know who you are. :D)_

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_

It was a Sunday morning, a little more than a week after the get-together with Troy and Gabriella. Ryan absolutely _adored _Sunday mornings. Even though it was summer vacation, he loved the feeling of waking up knowing it was the start of another week and he could do whatever he darn well pleased.

Ryan went around the house opening any window and curtain he could find. The beautiful blue sky shouldn't have been covered up, in his opinion. Something was missing though. Ryan frowned, trying to figure out what it was. The light-bulb clicked on fast.

"Sharpay."

He couldn't put his finger on it, but something never felt right unless Sharpay was around. He figured it must be one of those freaky twin things_. __It's only 10:45… she might still be sleeping… _He figured he'd leave her alone for a couple more minutes.

Ryan strolled into the living room and sat down on the couch. He looked around, pursed his lips and whistled for a couple moments while fiddling with his hands, anything to keep himself occupied. He sighed and let himself fall back and sink into the couch. The mansion was too quiet for his liking. He tried turning on the television, but even that didn't help. Ryan checked his watch again.

"10:50… It's been five minutes. Okay. Whatever," he muttered impatiently to himself as he made his way up the stairs. It was pure instinct; he had to check up on his baby sister.

Ryan made his way down the second-floor hallway and stopped in front of Sharpay's door. He leaned in and put his ear and hand on the painted wood, listening for any sound coming from inside._I don't hear anything… maybe that's a good sign…_Ryan thought. He knocked quietly to forewarn he was entering and he peeked his head in. The covers on the bed were ruffled and messy, and there was no Sharpay in the sheets. Ryan frowned and took a step so the door opened wider. The sides of his lips curved into a slight smile as he realized Sharpay was sitting in her favorite part of the entire house. Her cushioned bay-window seat was her sanctuary.

Sharpay was leaning against the wall with her knees bent up almost near her chest. Her hands were resting comfortably between her thighs and her head was tilted to the side, her vision staring at the view of the backyard and suburban area they lived in.

Ryan shoved his hands in his jean pockets and he walked up to Sharpay.

"Ray?"

She slowly tore her eyes away from the window and turned her head to look at her brother.

What Ryan saw in Sharpay's eyes terrified him. He saw pain. Desperation. Grief. Her once chocolaty-brown eyes were now dull and lifeless. The spark and fire behind the eyes that once was Sharpay Evans was nowhere to be found. Ryan took a step backwards and wanted to cry out. He swallowed with some difficulty. When Sharpay hurt, Ryan hurt. It had always been that way. Sharpay's expressionless gaze was suddenly broken by a slight quiver of her lip, and her eyes started watering. She turned her head back to the window.

"I didn't want you to see me like this… I was going to come down later, when— Look, I'm okay…"

"No you're not, Sharpay," Ryan argued. "You're not telling me the truth." Ryan's voice was breaking. Thoughts of what could be wrong or what was happening to his sister rushed in and out of his mind.

Sharpay scrunched up her face in an attempt to refrain from crying, and she shook her head, knowing there was no way out of trying to hide it from him. "I can't be happy, Ryan," she trembled. "And I don't know why." She put her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands. "It's stupid, I can't explain…"

Ryan sat down across from her. "I want to understand…" Sharpay continued to shake her head. "Please?"

Sharpay sighed and bit her lip, now looking at her lap. "Ryan, I… I don't know. I don't know why I'm feeling like this. I shouldn't be feeling like this. But I do." She started to gain speed. "I always wake up wondering why I'm still here. My brain tells me things that I don't want to think about. Things like… that," she said, referring to the statement before. "But it's automatic. I-I can't stop it. And I was thinking this morning… if I'm going to be like this for the rest of my life… I shouldn't have all the things I do." Her voice started cracking. "I don't deserve any of this… I don't deserve Gabriella… or T-Troy… or you."

"Yes you do, Sharpay—"

"No, I don't! I'm pathetic, Ryan. You are so good to me." Built-up tears flooded down her pale cheeks. "You're the best brother I could have ever asked for. Then look at me. Sharpay. A hopeless freak who can't do a single fucking thing right," she breathed in frustration.

"Don't say that, Sharpay. It's not true—"

"Ryan! How would you know?" Sharpay paused and closed her eyes to try and calm herself down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I just… I try to be happy. I want to love life. But… I just can't," she finished, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"No…" Ryan tried grasping Sharpay's hand, but she moved it away, shaking her head in protest. "Please don't give up. Not now," Ryan pleaded. "You know what's scaring me the most?" Sharpay avoided eye contact. He continued, "I'm seeing you lose all the love you've ever had of yourself. And it's seriously scaring the shit out of me, Ray._ I'm_ suffering watching you go through this, knowing I can't help. This is inside of _you_. _You_ have to fight through this…but… please don't give up. You have too much going for you to surrender now."

Sharpay wiped her eyes hastily. "I'm _sick_ of crying, Ryan." She looked him in the eye. "And I'm _sick_ of the way my life is heading. If there were a way to change it, I'd do it in a flash." She leaned back against the wall again. "I wish there was a way I could think to myself, 'Okay. Shake it off, tomorrow's a new day,' but I can never get myself to actually believe it. I'll never be happy." Sharpay stopped talking suddenly and threw her hands up in hysterics. "That's all I ever do! I just repeat myself! I'm a stupid broken record… why are you still listening to me?"

Ryan couldn't take it any longer; he leaned forward and scooped Sharpay up into a tight hug, and gratefully, she accepted it. "Because you're my sister, and I love you. Plus, I'm too sentimental, I tend to hold onto old and broken things," he winked.

Sharpay had to laugh through her tears. "Shut up. What did I do to deserve you?"

Ryan smiled. "Absolutely nothin'. You've been kinda stuck with me since before we were born."

Sharpay laughed again and pulled away from Ryan. "You doof."

Ryan got serious suddenly. "Sharpay, how long has this been bottled up inside of you?"

Sharpay looked out into the clear blue sky through the window again. "It comes and goes. You just happened to catch me on a bad day."

"How many bad days have you had!" Ryan exclaimed.

"It's not important," Sharpay said quickly, avoiding the question.

Ryan disregarded that statement, because he was in the middle of toying with a thought in his head. His eyes lit up as he confirmed what he was going to do next. "I got something for you." He stood up.

"Why?"

"Well…" Ryan hesitated. "It was supposed to be one of your birthday presents…"

"Our birthday is a little less than 2 weeks away." She took the bottom of the shirt she was wearing and dried her eyes.

"I know… I just think you need it now." He raced out of the room. Sharpay raised her eyebrow and let out a laugh. Ryan's surprising excitement amused her greatly.

___What is that boy up to? _She heard him rummaging through his closet. He heard his light footsteps coming closer and when he returned into Sharpay's room he was carrying a small shiny gift-wrapped present, complete with a ribbon and bow to match.

"Wrapped and everything already? Way to stay on top of things!"

"Well, I figured I'd get you something early, because I was at the mall a few days ago with Troy—"

"Since when have you two become attached at the hip?" Sharpay interrupted.

Ryan frowned and looked disappointed. "Is that… a bad thing?"

"Oh!" Sharpay exclaimed quickly. "No! It's a good— I mean— it's cool."

"Here." Ryan handed his sister the present, stopping her from any more ramblings. "Happy early birthday!" he grinned.

"Aww," Sharpay cooed, "now I feel bad I haven't gotten you anything yet…"

"Don't worry about it… Just open it!" Ryan said, mocking impatience.

"Okay, okay…" Sharpay started to carefully peel off the tape, piece by piece.

"I hope you like it. Troy helped pick it out," he added slyly.

Without really registering her actions, Sharpay started to tear away the wrapping faster. Ryan stifled his laughter. Gabriella might have been oblivious, but Ryan _definitely_ knew Sharpay liked Troy. He knew from the stolen glances, jealous vibes whenever Gabriella and Troy did any signs of public displays of affection, and another rather… _interesting_ incident that happened a couple days after the day spent with Troy and Gabriella.

Ryan's brain flashed back to the memory.

* * *

___  
Sharpay was taking a nap on the couch while Ryan was preparing dinner. Ryan was stirring some pasta on the stove when suddenly… he heard some… noises. Moans more like. Ryan was concerned at first, because you know, Sharpay might have been sick. But then he heard Troy's name being repeated, followed by more… noises. Ryan was frozen in an amused-shock state._

_****__That __was when he finalized his assumption of his sister liking Troy Bolton._

___Ryan cleared his throat, trying to stop his laughter while he rummaged around the kitchen clumsily, trying to make as much noise as possible. He finished by dropping a couple plastic bowls on the floor so they spun around and hit each other until they came to a stop._

_"__Whoopsie!" Ryan said airily." Did I wake you?" he asked loudly while putting his hands on his hips. Sharpay stirred groggily. She narrowed her eyes at her brother angrily._

_"__Yes!" She got into a more comfortable position. "Asshole." She closed her eyes again._

___Ryan doubled over in laughter silently. He clutched his stomach and tried calming down. Sharpay was always a bit cranky when she was woken up. And, Ryan was guessing that she was even crankier from being disturbed by the exciting and stimulated dream she was having._

___I mean, sure, Ryan had completely **no **problem with Sharpay liking Troy. But… Ryan was trying to cook. He figured she could have her Troy dreams later that night, just **not **while he was around._

_____

* * *

_

Ryan laughed as he finished remembering that memory, and promised himself never to tell his sister about that incident. Sharpay finished unwrapping the gift and she gasped as she held a brand new journal in her hands. It was hard cover that was a solid dark blue color. Sharpay traced her fingers along the spine of it and ran the palm of her hand on top, feeling the smoothness on the tips of her fingers. The front cover displayed a shot quote written in a curvy white font. ___"__Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." _Ryan smiled warmly as Sharpay opened the journal up and turned over all the crisp pages with her thumb.

"Ryan…" Sharpay said in awe, " this is gorgeous."

"So, you like it?"

"That's an understatement and a half! I love it!" She closed it again and looked at the quote once more. She tried wiping the grin off her face, but it was impossible. The pain that Ryan saw in his twin sister's eyes was not visible at all anymore. At least not at that moment.

"I promise I'll never read it," Ryan said honestly. "This book is yours and yours only. I got it for you so you can say the things you can't tell to me… or Gabriella."

_____He knows. Oh god, he knows. _Sharpay's mind raced.

"Well," Ryan started, interrupting her panicked thoughts, "it's 11:30… you getting hungry?"

Sharpay shrugged. "A little, yeah," she replied, even though she felt like shouting _'YES I'M FREAKING STARVING!'_

"Okay… I'm going to go make us some grub. I'll call you down in a bit, all right?" Ryan saw Sharpay nod and he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

The room was silent again, leaving Sharpay's thoughts spin around her head loudly. She let all her muscles relax and sighed deeply, beginning to tremble again. "I don't deserve you," she said to the door Ryan just left from. "I don't deserve you at all," Sharpay convinced herself. She let her head droop down and a teardrop landed on the journal that was still in her lap.

* * *

Sharpay composed herself and came down for lunch when she heard Ryan calling her name from the bottom of the stairs. She came jogging down the stairs, humming a little tune and when she reached the bottom step she swung herself around the base of the railing so she was heading in the direction of the kitchen. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the sandwich that was waiting for her on the counter and sat down at the dark oak wooden table in a chair next to her brother. 

"Sorry I'm retarded," Sharpay said as she bit into her turkey and cheese sub.

"Well, that was a lovely greeting. Nice to see you too," he winked. "You're not retarded."

"I have to utterly and completely disagree with that statement, bro."

Ryan chuckled. A thought popped into his brain and Ryan chewed slower, contemplating something. He frowned slightly. Sharpay was confused.

"What?" she asked simply.

"Hold on… I'll be right back." Ryan put down his sandwich, stood up and headed towards the stairs.

"…okay…"

Ryan double-checked to make sure Sharpay wasn't following him when he reached the top step. He made his way down the echoing hallway, past his bedroom, and stood at the entrance of Sharpay's room. He checked over both his shoulders and stepped inside.

Not wanting to waste any time, Ryan headed to the door directly to the right, which was Sharpay's bathroom. He scanned the room and his eyes quickly targeted the object he was looking for. He walked over to her shower and bent down to pick up Sharpay's purple razor that was lying next to her strawberry-scented shaving cream and lavender soap. Ryan brought the blades close to his eyes and checked them carefully, making sure there were no signs of blood on them.

_____What was I so worried about,_ he thought to himself, shaking his head. Then Ryan remembered the heart-wrenching conversation he had with Sharpay that morning.___ "__I can't be happy, Ryan… And I don't know why…" _Sharpay's voice echoed in his mind. And the look in her eyes… Ryan shuddered. _____That's why._

Ryan set down the razor back to where he found it, still shaking his head. _Sharpay wouldn't lie to me. She's not one to break a promise._ Still, that didn't stop him from checking her shower and he sink for any sign of red residue one last time before leaving the bathroom.

He strolled back into the kitchen where Sharpay was still sitting at the table eating her sandwich. She had one foot propped up on the seat of the chair and that knee was near her chest, while the other one was near the floor swinging back and forth lazily. Sharpay turned her head when she heard the sound of Ryan coming back into the room.

"Where'd you go?"

"I, uh… I left my stereo on upstairs," Ryan lied.

Sharpay eyed him suspiciously. "Yeah, bullshit. I know you too well."

"So… maybe it wasn't my stereo," Ryan laughed.

"Then tell me what you did!" Sharpay laughed back.

"Nothing, Sharpay. Seriously, I just had to check on something, it's not important."

"Okay then…" She knew that if it wasn't that important, Ryan would have told her. But Sharpay didn't press the issue any further. She ate the last part of her sub and took her napkin and wiped her mouth. She stood up and brought her plate to the sink. "That was very good, by the way." Sharpay said referring to the sandwich Ryan made her.

"Oh, why thank you."

"You know, I haven't seen Gabriella in a while—" The phone rang and interrupted Sharpay. She walked over to the phone and leaned in to see who was calling, and when she saw the name "Montez' she smiled. Sharpay looked over at Ryan before picking it up.

"Hey Gabriella! That was so weird, I was just about to call you!" Gabriella said something that made Sharpay giggle. "Oh, really?" she giggled again. "That's awesome!"

Ryan leaned back in his chair and imitated Sharpay by putting his hand to his ear like a phone. He mouthed an 'Oh-my-God!' and flicked his other wrist forward just like he'd seen his sister do. Sharpay sneered lightheartedly.

"Ryan, you're weird…. No, he's just being odd." Sharpay responded to Gabriella's question. Gabriella talked for a little, and Sharpay laughed. "Hey, do you want to come shopping with me? I have to go look for a birthday present for my dork-face brother." She smiled at Ryan who was chuckling. "'Kay, I'll see you in a bit." Sharpay hung up the phone.

"So, what are you going to get for this dork-face brother?" Ryan smirked.

"I'm not sure yet… But I know I'll think of something. I have to go get ready, so if I don't see you when I leave, I'll talk to you later!"

"You better get me something good!" Ryan yelled as Sharpay ran up the stairs. He smiled and sat back in his chair again.

___****__

* * *

_

Sharpay jogged back up into her room and shut her door. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and leaned back into the door and tilted her head up. She blinked a few times and then proceeded to walk into her closet.

"Why can't you be happy, Sharpay?" she asked herself as she looked into a full-length mirror in front of her. She grabbed a few shirts off their hangers and put them in front of her to see which one looked the best. "Why?" She looked herself square in the eyes. "You have all these wonderful things in your life, and you're never satisfied! Get a friggin' grip!" Sharpay rolled her eyes at herself, and ended up choosing an orange tank top. She slipped it on and grabbed some matching flip-flops, snatched her purse, and flew out the door.

* * *

"So, Sharpay," Gabriella started to ask as they wandered down the avenue of the main shopping area, "when is your birthday?" 

"July 8th." Sharpay stopped to look at a rack of clothing outside of a store. She raised her eyebrows as she looked at the price tag and took a shirt off the rack to take a better look at it.

Gabriella gasped. "What's today!"

"Uh… June 26th? Yeah, it's the 26th."

"Girl, your birthday is coming up soon!"

"I like this shirt…" Sharpay said absently. "Wait, what are you talking about, I know it's coming up," she laughed.

"Are you going to have a party?"

Sharpay didn't respond. She'd never thought of that before. "I'm not so sure, Gab…"

"Sharpay!" Gabriella took both her hands and put them on Sharpay's shoulders. "You are having a party, do you know why?"

"Why's that?" she smirked.

"Because… I'm going to help you plan it! Ooh!" Gabriella squealed, "this is going to be so much fun!"

"All right," Sharpay said uneasily, "but you're in charge of everything."

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head about that. First things first, finding Ryan's present. And then," Gabriella continued, forcing Sharpay to put down the shirt she was holding, "you are calling Ryan and telling him your sleeping over at my house. Then we can do some serious planning."

Sharpay pouted her lip and reached out for the shirt she found as Gabriella maneuvered her away from the store. But she had to smile and laugh as she reached for her cell phone. Tonight was going to be interesting, Sharpay could tell that much.

* * *

___****__  
A/N –__ Okay. I have a couple things to say. I know Ashley's birthday is July 2nd, but I made Sharpay and Ryan's birthday the 8th because it fit with the storyline. And next thing, I'm **very **sorry for the wait, but I actually thought that this was a relatively short update time because of the fact of how busy I am. I try so hard to update as fast as I can, but it's hard to balance all these things in my life, but I'll manage. I just hope I don't turn anyone away from my story because of my lack of update time. _

_____And lastly, if you are going to tell me how much I suck at writing, at least give me tips on how to get better. Thanks in advance. :D_

_____-Alyssa_


	6. Spark Before The Flame

**Disclaimer:** I obviously don't own HSM, but a girl can dream.

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_**A/N -** Sorry for the updates being once every 17 kajrillion years, but you guys have no idea how busy I am. Oh goodness. I'm yawning as I type this, actually. Again, I'm NOT abandoning this story, just so everyone knows. Anyway, this chapter is probably the second to last one in this story… But I WILL be making a sequel **definitely. **You can count on that. _

_This is basically building up for the last chapter, which will be the next installment… gahh… and that's the one I've been **dying** to write since I started this story. I seriously have the entire ending planned out in my head. So yes. Read, review, enjoy, do whatever. Haha._

_Thank you to ALL my reviewers, new and old. They keep me writing, seriously. And thank you for putting up with my lack of updateness. :D_

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"Oh, that's awesome, Sharpay," said Ryan when his sister called him from her cell phone on the way to Gabriella's house. Ryan couldn't see her face, but he knew she was frowning.

"_You're not happy,"_ Sharpay said more like a statement.

"No, of course I am. I just get bored," he shrugged.

"_Promise you'll be okay?_"

"Yeah! Definitely. You don't have to worry, I'm not two years old, here." Ryan let out a small laugh.

"_Well, I'm kinda driving… so I have to go."_

"Okay."

"_I'll call later tonight with our plans for our party, to see if you like it, all right?"_

"Sounds great."

There was a pause. "_Love you."_

"Love you, too." Ryan put the phone back on its cradle and stood up to try and find something to busy himself with.

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* * *

---- 

Sharpay turned her pink cell phone off and turned her attention back to driving.

"You have an _incredible _relationship with your brother, are you aware of that?" asked Gabriella who was sitting in the passenger seat of Sharpay's car.

Sharpay smiled. "We've always been 'close', but… we've grown even closer these past few weeks."

"Any particular reason?"

"Yeah," Sharpay said with an edge in her voice, making it quite obvious that she wasn't going to talk about it.

"Oh…" Gabriella said meekly while folding her hands in her lap and looking out the window to her right. She didn't know if she wanted to risk saying anything more, so she just kept her mouth shut. They were silent for a block or two, but Sharpay tried changing the subject.

"So… I don't think I've ever seen your house before." Sharpay adjusted her mirrors so she could get a better look at the cars behind her. "After almost a year, isn't that odd?"

"It's nothing compared to yours," Gabriella said quietly.

"Well… I…" Sharpay didn't know what to say. _I don't mind? Or… It's okay, because I hate my house and I'd probably rather live in yours anyway?_

"You can be the judge, it's coming up, the next driveway on your right. Home sweet home."

Sharpay slowed down her car and turned into the driveway. As she pressed on the brakes to park the car, Sharpay's jaw dropped as she took a good look at the house in front of her. To Sharpay, Gabriella's house was like the most quintessential suburban house she could have ever dreamed about. The white arch in the front with wavy vines and colorful flowers flowing from every which way… the beautiful full length glass window on the side of the front door… Sharpay was resisting the urge from asking Gabriella how much of a burden it would be for her to move in with them.

"What are you talking about, 'nothing compared to mine'… I absolutely love it!"

"Stop being nice," Gabriella laughed.

"I'm serious!" Sharpay turned off her car, unbuckled, grabbed her purse and opened up the car door, still unable to peel her eyes away from the house.

"Just a heads up on my family, my mom is home right now, she's probably taking care of my little sister—"

"You have a little sister?" Her attention snapped to Gabriella. "How cute!" she squealed. "What's her name?"

Gabriella chuckled and stepped out of the car also. The two girls walked towards the entrance of the home.

"Georgiana, but we call her Gigi. She's eight."

"_Georgiana,_" Sharpay repeated with the same accent as Gabriella said. "That is such an awesome name."

"My dad comes home real late, like around midnight or so. He works weird hours." Gabriella turned the handle of the door and they walked inside.

The first thing that hit Sharpay was the fresh smell of what seemed to be some type of vanilla and spices. She took deep breaths and tried suppressing her excitement. Sharpay could see a bunch of family portraits hanging by think wooden frames and paintings that perfectly matched the flow of the room. Everything was so warm, cozy, and inviting. She _loved _it.

"Gabriella?" a woman questioned from what seemed to be the kitchen. She walked into view wearing a blue flowered apron over her blouse and jeans. Her dark hair was tied back in a low ponytail and Sharpay automatically knew it was Gabriella's mom because they looked so much alike.

"Hey, Mommy."

"Gabbi! Gabbi! Gabbi!" An energetic little girl with long dark wavy hair came bouncing in the room eating a chocolate chip cookie. She was wearing yellow capris and a matching tank top, and her hair was in pigtails, so every time she moved around, her hair would swoosh in every direction. She stopped in her tracks as she saw the newest visitor and stayed next to her mom.

"Hey Gigi!" Gabriella laughed. "Mom, Gigi, this is Sharpay."

"You can call me Rose," Rose smiled.

"_Rosamaria,_" Gabriella said with a smirk, rolling her "r's"

Sharpay couldn't stop smiling. The entire atmosphere of the house was filled with love and support, something Sharpay definitely wasn't used to. It amazed Sharpay that a family like that even _existed_.

"Mom, is it okay if Sharpay spends the night? I know," Gabriella sighed, "I probably should have asked first, but—"

"Of course!" she flicked her wrist forward, shook her head and smiled. "That's fine, hun. Oh, girls, I made some cookies, if you two want some, just say so."

"All right. Gigi, are the cookies good?" Gabriella bent down so she was eye level with her sister. Gigi just nodded, chewing a whole half of the cookie in her tiny mouth. Gabriella put her hand on Gigi's head and as she stood up straight. "Well, don't be shy. Say hi to Sharpay, Gigi."

"Hi." Gigi hid behind Gabriella's legs, mouth still full of crumbs. She peeked her big brown eyes around and came to the conclusion that Sharpay was okay, so she came out from hiding awkwardly, but she still stayed close to her big sister.

"We're going to head upstairs… making some birthday party plans for Sharpay and her brother."

"Oh? When's your birthday, Sharpay?" Rose asked.

"On the 8th," Sharpay responded quietly, though she smiled.

"Well, happy early birthday!" Rose smiled.

"C'mon, Sharpay." Gabriella grabbed Sharpay's hand and dragged her up the stairs, but not before Sharpay chuckled a quick 'thank you' to Rose. Gabriella stopped at the first door they came to at the top of the stairs and opened the door. This time, Sharpay couldn't contain her excitement.

"Gabriella, I want your room!"

Gabriella laughed. "Wanna trade?" she said sarcastically, even though part of her meant it. Like Sharpay's room, there was pink everywhere. There was a plaid chair and a computer on the other side of the room, with bookshelves to match.

"You even have a balcony? No fair!"

"Gabriella?" Rose called from the bottom of the stairs. "Can you come here for a second?"

"I'll be right back, Sharpay."

"Uh…where's your bathroom?" Sharpay asked before Gabriella got to the door.

"Right across the hall, first door. Coming, Mom!"

Sharpay walked out after Gabriella and quickly found the bathroom as she heard her friend trudge down the stairs. She was just about to close the door shut, but that was before she heard her name mentioned from the conversation happening downstairs. Sharpay suddenly forgot about her urge to pee and instead, she decided to let her curiosity get the best of her. She crept down the stairs, trying her best not to make the steps creak and stopped right as she got to the edge of where the wall ended.

"…Mom, she's different!" Sharpay heard Gabriella say in an urgent whisper.

"Isn't this the same girl who made you cry yourself to sleep all the time? I know she is, I recognize the name."

"Mom…"

Sharpay froze. She made Gabriella cry? _Was I really that mean? I am a horrible person. Oh my God._

"…but I'm not going to judge. I trust you, Gabbi."

"She's not like that anymore, I swear!"

_She's defending me. _Sharpay thought in disbelief as the conversation went on. _Why is she defending me? She really believes that I've changed. _She paused and frowned. _Have I changed?_ She pondered that thought for a moment. _I have! I've changed. I've turned a completely new leaf. I— _Sharpay's eyes grew wide and she scrambled silently up the stairs and into Gabriella's room as she heard her friend enter the room and head for the stairs. Sharpay leaped onto the bed in a dash and casually started fiddling with her purse.

"I brought cookies!" Gabriella said cheerfully as she walked into the room.

"Oh!" Sharpay forced a smile and dully reached over for one. She toyed with one of the melting chocolate chips on the top of it for a moment. "Your mom doesn't like me," she burst. She bit off a half of her cookie and started chewing so she couldn't say anything more.

"Sharpay…"

"Rrr mde yoo crr!" Sharpay snorted at her own stupidity and quickly finished chewing and swallowing. "I made you cry?" she repeated, mouth now empty. "I'm a bitch! A royal ice princess bitch, just like everyone thinks."

"No—"

"Why are you trying to defend me?" Sharpay asked desperately. "I don't deserve to be defended. I don't deserve anything."

"What you deserve," Gabriella sat down next to Sharpay, "is a second chance. A do-over. You know, the things you think you don't deserve are actually the things you need the most."

Sharpay frowned, but then her expression changed into a little smile. "You've been talking to Ryan."

Gabriella smirked a bit. "Maybe… a little… Man, do you know everything? My goodness."

"Thess rr vrry good," Sharpay said with her mouth filled with the rest of her cookie.

"I'll be sure to tell my mom that," Gabriella laughed. "Now— Party plans."

"Can we go out there?" Sharpay asked, pointing to the balcony that was showered with the bright afternoon sun.

"Sure!" Gabriella grabbed a notebook and a pen from her desk and turned the latch on the door and stepped outside. "For starters, where do you want this party to be held?" Gabriella sat down on the bench that was in the shade next to the side of the house.

"My… backyard?" Sharpay took a seat on the wooden deck.

"You know, you could sit on a chair, if you'd like."

"I like the ground. Plus, it's in the sun. I love the sun." Sharpay closed her eyes and lowered herself down so she was lying on her back. She took a slow deep breath, soaking in all the sounds, smells, and emotions around her.

"It might be cooler if you weren't lying in bird poop."

Sharpay let out a yelp and sat up in a flash. Gabriella couldn't stop laughing.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I swear."

Sharpay tried giving her infamous death glare after she checked to see if she really had laid on anything, but she broke into a grin before long.

"'S not funny," she lay back down.

"Okay, back to business." Gabriella tucked one leg underneath her and pushed the hair out of her face as she wrote. "Location: Evans' backyard. Date?"

"On… my birthday?"

"Good point. July 8th," Gabriella mumbled to herself as she wrote it down. "Time?"

"Well…" Sharpay put her hands over her closed eyes and rubbed them back and forth in deep thought. "It could be a pool party and then a dance… or is that too cheesy?"

"No! If it's planned right, it could be awesome!" Gabriella scribbled some notes down.

"Dance and a pool party?" A young male's voice was heard from down in the Montez's backyard. "Can I come?"

"No, Troy," Gabriella said without looking up from her paper. "You're not invited." She grinned and looked down at her boyfriend. Sharpay rolled herself over so she could take a look at the handsome boy through the white spokes of the deck. She smiled when she saw him, with his khaki cargo shorts and red American Eagle shirt and his dreamy smile on his face smiling back at her.

"Hey! What's _she _doing here?" Troy joked, putting his hands on his hips and squinting as he looked up.

"It's _my _party we're planning, numbnuts." Sharpay added the nickname just to see what type of a reaction she could get out of him.

"You, missy," Troy started climbing the tree that led to the balcony, "aren't very nice."

"So I've been told," Sharpay sighed.

"My nuts aren't numb," Troy stated as he finished climbing and his feet were planted on the deck.

"Yeah, uh-huh," Sharpay laughed, "who's going to be the judge of that?"

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest," Troy laughed also.

"Does my Mom know you're up here?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, I stopped by the front before I came 'round back," he nodded. "Hey, why you on the ground?" he raised his eyebrow curiously at Sharpay.

Sharpay sat up and hugged her knees. "What's so weird about me sitting on the ground?"

"Nothin'," Troy shrugged while taking a seat next to Gabriella. "I just wouldn't think—"

"—that the ice princess would do something like that. Ugh. See, Gabriella! I'm a bitch and _everyone_ thinks it." She closed her eyes and lay back down.

"It's never too late to change…" Troy suggested. "But come on, don't be worried. Even Gabbi here can be a bitch sometimes." Troy put his arm around her, crossed his legs and gave a sheepish smile.

Gabriella glared at Troy, which made Sharpay laugh. "Don't you mess with me, boy."

"She's PMS-ing," Troy said in a loud obvious whisper to Sharpay. "I can tell—OW!" he grabbed his now sore arm from where Gabriella punched him. "That hurt!" he whimpered..

"Good!" Gabriella laughed.

"So, who's going to be invited to this party? ….Sharpay?" Troy tried getting Sharpay's attention, but her eyes were closed and she almost looked asleep.

"Hmm?" she asked lazily, still not opening her eyes. The sun was so warm; it could have drained the energy out of anyone. "What didja say?"

"Who-is-com-ing-to-the-par-tay?" Troy said, enunciating his words. "You know, that actually looks really relaxing. I'm in." Troy slid off the bench and lay down relatively close to Sharpay. In Sharpay's eyes, it was just far enough away to not be obvious, and just close enough to hear the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. "Ohh, man this is _nice,_" he said slowly.Sharpay hoped her cheeks weren't becoming flushed after he moaned that. "Gabriella, you should come down here."

"I'm okay in the shade, thanks," said Gabriella.

"All right… you're missing out though."

"Anyone can come, I guess," Sharpay said answering Troy's question from before. Both herself and Troy were lying on the backs, with their bodies in the same direction, so Sharpay just flopped her head to the left to look at him. Troy's head was leaning towards the right. Though she had to squint a bit, all of her vision and her thoughts at the moment were about the abnormal _gorgeous_ color of Troy's eyes. They seemed to be the exact color of the bright blue summer sky above them. _Or are they more of an ocean blue,_ she wondered to herself. Whatever color it was, Sharpay couldn't get enough of it. All Sharpay was capable of doing at the moment was smiling.

"Does that mean I'm invited now?" Troy asked in a low voice.

"No," said Sharpay, but her smirk gave away everything. She forced herself to break eye contact and look at some of the clouds above her.

"Fine then." Troy lifted his arms up and used his hands as a pillow. His right elbow brushed Sharpay's left shoulder briefly, and she _swore _she felt a spark race all the way down to her toes. She yearned for him to touch her again.

"Sharpay, you are going to _love _all these ideas I have in store for you!" Gabriella said while putting her pen and paper down and stretching her legs. Sharpay was startled. She had forgotten that Gabriella was sitting there completely.

"Oh, uhh… sweet! I wish I weren't so lazy, or else I would sit up and read what you have."

"That's okay, I'll show you later. You're lucky you have…" Gabriella counted on her fingers, "twelve days until your birthday. It's _just _enough time to plan. By any chance, do you have a price limit on this party?"

Sharpay peeked her eyes open. "Go _crazy,_" she stated, using arm motions as emphasis. Gabriella squealed and jotted down more notes.

"I don't even want to _know _what's going on in her head," Troy laughed.

"Oh, I can't wait," Sharpay said as she bit her lip and smiled.

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* * *

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After Sharpay and Gabriella ate dinner and Troy went home, the girls were hanging out in Gabriella's room.

"Your mom is an _awesome _cook," Sharpay said, leaning up against the headboard on Gabriella's bed.

"I'll tell her that!" Gabriella smiled, who was on the bed next to her.

"Ooh, crap, I need to call Ryan." Sharpay leaned over the bed and grabbed her purse and took out her cell phone. She stayed lying on her stomach as she dialed the number to her house.

"_Hey, Sharpay_," she heard Ryan say.

"Hey, Ry." Sharpay put her elbow up and supported her head with her hand. "We have party plans!"

"_Let's hear 'em!"_

"Okay. There's gonna be a pool party in the afternoon and evening, and a dance later that night. Oh, and there's not going to be any real theme, but there are going to be decorations everywhere. We called a DJ a little while ago, and we're going to set up a dance floor and there are going to be lights… Ryan, this is going to be awesome!"

"_Sounds like you two have been busy! Tell Gabriella I said hi."_

Sharpay put her cell phone to her shoulder, "Ryan says hi."

"Hi, Ryan!" Gabriella laughed.

"What did you have for dinner?"

"_I ordered Chinese food. Didn't feel like cooking."_

"Oh…" Sharpay hesitated before she spoke again, but she'd been meaning to ask him for a while. "Any word from…" she implied the words 'mom and dad' but she couldn't get herself to say it.

"_No… why?" _Ryan asked softly.

"I dunno… I was thinking about it, and I guess part of me kind of… wants them to be here for our birthday." She glanced over at Gabriella, who was staring intently back at her, which caught her off guard. Sharpay quickly looked away and tried changing the subject. "Uh… yeah, so you sound bored."

"_I am,_" Ryan laughed.

"Make a list of people you want to invite to our party, okay? We'll do the same. That'll give you something to do."

"_Okay, I might do that in a bit, I have to do something right now, but I promise I'll make a list and call back later."_

"'Kay, talk to you soon." Sharpay hung up her cell. "He sounds miserable… I feel bad,"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gabriella asked while she hugged her purple feathered pillow.

Sharpay sat up and crossed her legs in an indian-style. "Talk about… what?"

"Your parents."

Sharpay swallowed, but couldn't say a thing. The subject of her parents was buried deep inside her, something she really didn't feel like digging back up again. She longed to say yes, she didn't have the heart to say no… Her mouth opened up but neither word escaped her lips because frankly, she didn't know where to start! For a reason beyond her knowledge, she had an urge to cry. Sharpay fought those instincts though, feeling that she was becoming a sappy prissy and weak person, who for so long she believed she wasn't. _Why am I so different now? Who or what the hell made me this way? _Sharpay suddenly blinked herself out of her slight daydream and noticed that Gabriella was still looking at her.

"You okay?"

Sharpay cleared her throat and dabbed at her eye with the back of her hand. "Touchy subject," was all that she could muster up to say.

"That's all right," Gabriella said kindly.

"I'm really emotional lately. Or… should I say really _openly _emotional lately. And I don't know why."

"Having some mood swings?" Gabriella smirked, preparing to use her pillow for a shield if Sharpay made an attack.

Sharpay laughed, "No, at least not the kind you're thinking about. More like mood swings 24/7 now-a-days."

"Maybe… it's who you are," Gabriella said after a slight contemplation.

Sharpay frowned and let that thought sink in, which made the room silent and tranquil. _Me? Emotional? Since when? _… _Since now, you ding-dong,_ another part of her mind answered. But she wasn't going to believe it. "I'm not emotional. Sharpay Evans is _not _emotional." She just had to keep saying that to herself.

"Uh-huh."

"I'm not!" Sharpay protested. "Well… I never used to be," she added once she saw Gabriella's expression.

"_See! _Maybe you're becoming someone you always _were _but never wanted to _think _you were because you used to be someone everyone _thought _you were and you needed to keep your image," Gabriella ended in a nod.

Sharpay raised her eyebrow and was staring at a spot on the bed as she processed that thought in her brain. "Sad thing is, I actually understood that," she sighed. "And you're right." She slapped a palm to her forehead. "Gabriella," she whined, "I'm turning into a wimp."

"Awww, how cute." Gabriella reached over and pinched the blonde's cheek. "I like wimpy Sharpay."

"I'm not so sure I do…"

Gabriella's door creaked open a tiny bit. "Why are you a wimp?" a small girls' voice asked.

"Gigi," Gabriella laughed and rolled her eyes, "what did I tell you about eavesdropping?"

"It's not polite…I know. But I just wanna play."

"Come on in," Gabriella sighed.

Gigi giggled and pushed the door open. She ran and jumped onto the bed where Sharpay and Gabriella were sitting. Sharpay was in awe; she thought Gigi was almost an exact clone of Gabriella. Gigi had Gabriella's eyes, hair and smile most definitely.

"She looks so much like you," Sharpay smiled. Gigi put her hands up to her face to hide her embarrassment.

"No… No, I don't." Gigi slid her hands off her face. "Gabbi looks like me!" she replied happily.

"Oh," Sharpay laughed, "is that how it is?"

"Yeah," Gigi nodded, a smile still beaming from her face.

"I've always wanted a little sister… Gabriella, you're _so _lucky." Sharpay tilted her head and smiled back warmly at the child in front of her. She adored Gigi.

"So!" Gabriella retorted, "I've always wanted a twin!"

Gigi gasped and looked wide-eyed at Sharpay. "You have a twin? That's so cool!"

"Yeah, his name is Ryan."

At that last statement, Gigi wrinkled her nose. "You have a _boy _twin?" She made sure she put special emphasis on word 'boy'.

"Hey! He's not half-bad." _Speaking of which, he hasn't called back yet. _Sharpay thought to herself.

"Well, _I _don't like boys," Gigi said with a snobbish tone.

"Why's that?" Sharpay asked. She looked at Gabriella briefly and both tried to hold in their laughter and hold their attention at the same time.

"Because. They roll around in the mud… they chase after us at recess… they like bugs…" Gigi was numbering off all the reasons with her fingers. She gave a dramatic eight-year-old sigh. "And because they are just weird."

"I agree, high-five for that, girl!" Sharpay put up her hand and Gigi giggled while she slapped it.

Gabriella sent Gigi out of the room shortly, leaving the two girls to their late night talks and juicy gossip. Sharpay swore she got the biggest ab-workout because of how much she laughed that night, and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

When it was time to leave the next morning, Sharpay was nearly reluctant to go. She almost didn't want to go back to her desolate empty mansion. It wasn't significant enough in her mind to call it a 'home'. Gabriella's house was a _home. _The Evans' mansion would always and forever be just a bunch of wood, bricks, and plywood nailed together to keep sheltered from the weather. Nothing else.

"Ry, I'm home!" Sharpay called after she opened up the front door. Her voice echoed and bounced off the tiles, but she didn't hear a response back. She wondered if she should call his name again. "Ryan?" she yelled again. Sharpay slipped off her shoes and put her purse on a bench in the main lobby, and proceeded to wander throughout the house to try and find her brother.

"I'm in here, Sharpay," she heard him call from what seemed to be the living room.

_His voice sounds strained… That only happens when he's frustrated or depressed or— _Sharpay's body was suddenly frozen in mid-step as soon as she walked into the room and noticed who was sitting on the couch.

"Mom? D-Dad?"

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_**A/N –** Sucky place to end, haha, sorry, but I had to end it somewhere. So yes, the next chapter is going to be the last one of this story… Half of the reason why this was so late, was because I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go with this story… and half was writer's block.. Very minor writer's block though… Okay anyway… _

_Next chapter: **Evans' family talk**, the **par-tay**! And some **MUCH** awaited **Troypay fluffiness**. _

_Sorry if there's any typos or grammar mistakes, I typed this up really fast because I know how much you guys must hate me for not updating… lol. _

_Love to all. :D_


	7. The Candle

**Disclaimer: **……yeah, just see the other six at the beginning of the other chapters, aiight?

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_**A/N:** Gonna make this short because I know everyone's about to kill me for not updating sooner. Ahhh. Okay._

_I'll explain more at the end, but in a nutshell: Been AMAZINGLY busy, having troubles perfecting the last few scenes, because I'm a perfectionist, blahblahblah, please don't shoot me, I'm just a kid, this is an incredibly long chapter, OKAY, STORY:_

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"What made you come back?" Sharpay's voice turned cold and smooth as ice as soon as her shock wore off. "It was only a matter of time before you'd show your faces again, I guess." She laughed at her own remark, but then stopped as quickly as she started. "_What are you doing here?_" she asked through gritted teeth. Sharpay balled up her fists and went to take a step forward angrily, but Ryan held her back.

"Sharpay, I—"

"Not _you, _Ryan! I was talking to _them_! I have to hear it from _them_!" She pointed to the two adults sitting meekly on the couch.

"Sharpay—"

"No—" she yelled.

"Listen to me!" Ryan yelled over her. Sharpay fell silent. "_I _called them. Last night." His voice got softer as he tried making his sister understand. "That's what I said I had to do first… before I made my list… I called them and explained that enough was enough. It had to be done." Ryan dug through his left jean pocket and pulled out a crumpled and folded piece of paper. "I made the list though!" He smiled and gave a weak laugh as he held it up, but stopped abruptly as he saw the imaginary steam coming from Sharpay's ears.

"Can we talk, hun?" Veronica asked softly, her eyes tired and almost blood-shot from the red-eye flight they took to come home.

"Don't call me 'hun' like you actually know me. I'm still furious with you."

"Okay… Can we talk, _Sharpay?" _she corrected herself quietly.

Sharpay didn't answer. Though she huffed and sat herself down on a chair across from her parents, signaling she was going to listen.

"Sharpay…" Veronica looked over to Marcus for comfort. "We made a mistake." Sharpay crossed her arms, leaned back and raised her eyebrows. "Okay, _some _mistakes." Sharpay had to let out a strangled laugh and she shook her head, eyes glued to the ceiling. "All right, so maybe we made a _ton _of _huge _mistakes, but Sharpay, we're _sorry." _Veronica almost couldn't finish her sentence because she was starting to cry. "And you were absolutely right, Ryan. We _have _been horrible parents." The heartbreak was visible in Veronica's trembling voice.

"No—" Ryan tried disagreeing.

"Don't try to deny it, Ryan," Marcus said, rubbing his eyebrows. "We had all this time to think about it, and it's true." Marcus couldn't make eye contact with either of his children, shame written all over his face.

Veronica turned back to her daughter. "I don't know how I'm going to make up almost seventeen years of bad judgment and not being there for you, but I want to try." Veronica seemed to be teetering on the edge of completely bawling her eyes out.

"I don't even want to hear it," Sharpay spat. "No more of your fake empathy to clear your conscience. It gets old," she sneered.

Veronica cried silently to herself for a moment and looked towards Ryan for assistance.

"Ray, would you just listen to them for a change?" Ryan pleaded.

"Why are you on their side?" Sharpay fumed, in utter disbelief of what her brother was saying.

"Because I took the time and _listened _to them, Sharpay! I stepped in their shoes, I _understand _where they are coming from now, because of it!"

"How can it be that _easy? _Nothing is _ever _that _easy!" _

"Sometimes things really _are _that easy!"

"How do you know? They've lied to us too many times before, there has to be a reason—"

"Are you hearing yourself, Sharpay? They're trying to change! You overanalyze and never give anything or anybody a chance!" Ryan yelled back. "God damn it, just listen to them. Learn to trust people, Ray. Please."

"How can I 'learn to trust'," she said, mocking her brother's words, "when we've had _them _for parents?"

That statement hung dryly in the air and seemed to echo and repeat itself thousands of times. Beforehand, Sharpay didn't understand what the consequences of saying that might be, but she immediately regretted it as she watched her mother crumble to pieces. Veronica let out a heart-wrenching wail and hid her face in her husband's embrace. Sharpay only now realized she was standing up and was pointing her index finger in the direction of her parents. She let her arm drop to her side and looked towards Ryan. Ryan was now the one sitting on the couch; he had both eyes closed, and he was leaning on his knees with his hands on his face.

_What have I done…_ "Mom," Sharpay's voice quivered, wishing her mother would stop crying. Was this, regret she was feeling? _Why… WHY did I say that. _"Please.." _It wasn't that bad… was it? _Marcus rubbed his wife's back. "Mom, I didn't…" Sharpay took a numb step forward. As furious as Sharpay was, at that moment, she realized she still loved her parents very much, and now when they were trying to apologize, she just messed it up more. "I'm sorry," Sharpay choked, "I—"

"I just want my own daughter to love me," Veronica sobbed. Sharpay felt like she was being repeatedly punched in the stomach, and she was nauseous. She had no clue how to fix this situation. There were still _so_ many things to be said, nothing can be solved by just saying a few words—

_Maybe that's what Ryan was talking about… Maybe things **can **be that easy…_Following her gut, Sharpay closed her eyes and cleared all her thoughts of what happened in the past and did what her first instincts told her to do.

"I _do _love you, Mommy." Sharpay flung her arms around her mother and started to cry also. _I love you and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the things I said, I'm sorry for everything._

"Oh," Veronica continued to sob, "honey, I promise to change."

"Okay." _You're here now, that's all that matters._

"I promise to be a better mother, I'll always be there for you. From here on out." She closed her eyes and built-up tears escaped her eyelids. "I promise to come to all your musicals next year, because it means so much to you."

_Next year doesn't even matter to me anymore, Mom! It's right now…that's all that matters. _Sharpay wanted to shout. _I have almost everything I've ever wanted. Why can't you understand. _"Okay," was all that she was capable of saying. _You're here. We're a family again. A real family._

Veronica pulled away and wiped away the tears on her daughter's cheeks lovingly. "I don't know what else I can do to make you feel better… Any other circumstance, I'd go out and buy you something really expensive, but seeing as you don't really like that…"

"No, mom," Sharpay laughed through her tears. "Everything is perfect just the way it is." _Like a real family should be._

Sure, things went unsaid. Things were forgotten, and things were purposely not talked about at all. There were days where Sharpay would have to bite her tongue so hard it would bleed because of things she felt like she needed to tell her parents, but she learned to let it go after a week or so, with the help of Ryan. Some things were better left unheard, and Sharpay did _not _want to mess anything up again. At that point in time, her life was okay. And _okay _was the best she'd felt in a _long _time.

* * *

Sharpay's arms and legs were tangled in her pink bed sheets as she slept noiselessly in the early morning on her birthday, July 8th. The silence was suddenly rudely broken by the shrill sounds of Sharpay's cell phone ringing, making her wince and scowl with her eyes still closed. She blindly flopped her arm to her bedside table and felt around for her phone, which she found rather quickly, given the situation. 

"_HAPPYY BIRTHDAYYY!_" was the greeting that startled Sharpay. She flinched slightly at the loudness. Now a little more awake, Sharpay glanced at the clock to her left, not bothering to sit up.

"Gabriella," she croaked, "are you aware that it is 12:05 in the morning?"

"_I know!_" Gabriella chirped. "_I wanted to be the first person to say happy birthday to you!"_

Sharpay laughed and looked at her ceiling. "Well, it looks like you've won that prize."

"_Yay!_"

Sharpay rubbed her eyes, sat up, and lazily let her eyes drift over the darkness of her usually bright room. "You are extraordinarily perky for this hour, do you know that?" she asked, voice still groggy.

"_Oh, I'm not the only one!"_

"_HI, SHARPAY!_" came a little girl's voice on the other end.

"Gigi?" Sharpay said, voice astounded, but she had to let out a chuckle. "Gigi, what in the world are you doing up?"

"_Same reasons as Gabbi! I wanted to say happy birthday to you!_"

"_Which you haven't even really said yet, you doof._" Gabriella's voice was heard in the background.

"_Oh yeah. HAAAAPPY BIRTHDAY!" _Gigi giggled.

Sharpay held the phone off her ear and cringed comically. "Why, thank you. Now that both you Montez girls have taken out my left eardrum, can I go back to sleep?"

"_Okay, here's Gabbi again." _There was a shuffle heard as the phone was exchanged.

"_Are you mad?"_

"Why would I be mad? Actually, that's the nicest thing any friend's ever done for me. Thank you." She rested her head on her knees as she waited for a response.

"_Aww, well, you're welcome. Now, get some sleep, you goober! Your big celebration of your freaking birth is today! What the hell are you doing up?"_

"Oh, I dunno," Sharpay said dumbly.

"_Talk to you in…a few hours," _she laughed.

"Bye," Sharpay giggled as she turned off her phone. She sighed and smiled as she lay back down. Already, she could tell this was going to be one _heck _of a day.

* * *

The weather couldn't have been any more perfect when Sharpay awoke around 8:30 that same morning. She grinned as she looked out the window. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the birds were chirping merrily as Sharpay made her way down the stairs into the kitchen. She spotted Ryan first. He was sitting on one of the swivel chairs of the kitchen island counter, watching his father cook. Ryan spotted his sister at the same time. He stood up and extended his arms and let Sharpay fall into them. 

"Happy birthday, Ry," she said sleepily.

"You too."

"Where's my big birthday girl?" Marcus grinned as he turned around after flipping a pancake over.

"You were just talking to her! Duh!" Sharpay pointed towards Ryan.

"Hey!" Ryan pretended to be offended. Sharpay snickered and ran over to her father, giving him a big bear hug.

"So, how many kids are coming over? And at what time?" asked Marcus. Sharpay and Ryan each took a seat in one of the chairs at the counter, facing their dad.

"Well," Sharpay started, thinking hard for a second, "let's see… the cooler ones are coming around 2:30-3:00 to have a pool party and hang out and stuff, and then the rest of the kids are coming around 7:30-8:00 for the dance part. It goes until midnight or so."

"There's only about 20 people coming to the pool part," Ryan added.

Marcus put a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of both twins. "And how many for the dance part?"

Ryan and Sharpay looked out of the corner of their eye at each other briefly as they reached out for their forks and stuffed their faces before having to respond.

"How many?" Marcus laughed. "I'm not going to be mad, I just need to estimate how much money I'll have to pay for all the damages to the house, that's all," he winked.

"We're not exactly sure, but we're thinking around… two hundred kids… give or take a few…" Ryan said finally after he finished chewing and swallowing his food.

Their father thought for a second, but finally smiled and nodded. "Sounds fun. Hey, I'm going to help out the decorating guys outside, see you kids later."

Ryan watched his father leave the room and he craned his neck to make sure he was out of earshot. "He doesn't seem mad at all that there's going to be a crapload of kids here today. Dad and Mom have actually come around, they changed, just like they promised."

"Yeah." Sharpay poked at a slice of bacon with her silver fork.

"Are you still mad at them?" Ryan inquired gently. He put his elbow on the counter and leaned his head on his hand as he looked at his twin for a response.

"Kind of…" Sharpay sighed and looked out the window over the sink. "But it's hard to be mad at a person who's trying so hard to get rid of the past and start over. I'm not like that though," she said with frustration. "If sometime goes unresolved, it's like this annoying nagging feeling in the back of my mind, which is what is happening at the moment." She scooped up some more food onto her fork and brought it to her mouth.

"Uh-oh. Does somebody need another hug?"

"Yes," Sharpay looked at Ryan and pouted through a mouthful of pancake and maple syrup.

"Oh, you've always been a very huggy-person," he teased, but he still let Sharpay fall into his arms again anyway.

"I know. I guess I'm just weird like that," she sighed into his chest after she finished chewing her food.

"Yeah, you are pretty weird," Ryan agreed as he pulled away, grinning.

"Hey!" Sharpay laughed and smacked his arm. "You're not supposed to agree!"

"That was payback for calling me a girl," he said smugly.

"Fine. We're even." Sharpay narrowed her eyes.

"Well, okay," Ryan drawled and raised his eyebrows, and the twins started to have a no-smiling contest. It was something they've always done, ever since they were kids. First one to smile loses. It was a pointless game, actually. But that didn't stop them from having one from time to time.

Ryan narrowed his eyes also, to match Sharpay's expression. Both were in high concentration on winning, but not before long, Sharpay had to look away and burst out in laughter.

"You win! You _always _win! God! Why is that?"

Ryan stood up and stretched his cramped muscles. "Because I'm awesome-r than you, that's why," he said, mid-stretch.

"No, it's because you have a funny looking face," Sharpay sneered.

Ryan laughed and relaxed his body, slapping his palm to his forehead. He sighed contently. "Touché." A giggling Sharpay told him that she was going to get dressed and ready, and Ryan realized he had to also, so they raced off.

* * *

When the pool party finally came around, Sharpay felt like everything in her life was near picture-perfect. 

Let's just say, that she would take a shirtless Troy Bolton over her five-foot long layered red velvet cake _anyday._

_I bet Troy would taste better than that damn cake anyway, _Sharpay thought dreamily, but she caught herself before she took that thought any further, partly because the man of her dreams was walking towards her.

Troy had already been in the pool for a bit, and of course, Sharpay and her daydreaming had left her standing in her t-shirt and shorts still.

"Are you gonna swim?" he asked.

Sharpay tried ignoring the fact that she could see the little droplets of water cascading down his tan, muscular, toned body, and that when his hair was wet, he still looked _massively _gorgeous. She swallowed. Troy stared at her innocently for a response.

"I—uh, yeah. Yes. Yes, I am indeed," she stammered, trying to make a complete sentence.

"Well, come on!" Troy waved. "Chad's going to start up a huge chicken tournament!"

"Sweet!" Sharpay exclaimed, returning to her normal self. "I'm in." When Troy turned around to go back into the pool, she crossed her arms and held the bottom of the shirt she was wearing and lifted the cotton material over her head, revealing the top half of her white bikini. Troy opened his mouth and turned back around at that exact moment, but quickly spun around again and walked briskly to the pool. Sharpay didn't notice his odd behavior; she was too busy undressing. He bit the side of his lip and snuck another glance right as Sharpay was taking off her shorts.

"Cannonball!" Troy yelled and he jumped up as high as he could, tucked his knees to his chest and made a humongous splash on the way into the water, making all the girls scream as the water hit them.

It was only then that Sharpay realized there were actually other people around, not just her and Troy. _Since when has there been music playing? And people talking? _Sharpay rolled her eyes at herself for not paying enough attention. A guy whistled as Sharpay made her way over to the pool's edge, making her red with embarrassment.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered out loud to whomever was watching or listening to her, "you've seen better." Right as Sharpay sat down and put her feet in the cool clean water, Gabriella appeared at her side and sat beside her.

"This is awesome, Sharpay!" Gabriella squealed and grabbed onto her friend's arms and gave a quick sideways hug. "Everyone's having a great time," she gushed. "_I'm _having a great time, are _you _having a great time?"

"More than great," Sharpay reassured her. _I just, you know, want to make sweet, sweet, passionate love with your boyfriend, that's all. _She decided to keep that thought to herself.

Sharpay didn't understand why all of a sudden she had such lust for the boy. Sure, she's had it before, but the feeling seemed to have tripled since she last remembered. Another thing she didn't fully understand, was the strange way Troy and Gabriella have been acting around each other. Not strange though… Sharpay didn't know how to describe the word. The entire pool party, they were just being overly friendly, the kind where you don't really mean it.

_Gabriella's been distant lately,_ Sharpay noticed, trying with all her might to put the pieces of the puzzle together in her mind, while still attempting to listen to what Troy was babbling on about.

Sharpay should have been listening, because her mind was temporarily lost and dysfunctional when she found herself atop Troy's shoulders, battling Taylor in an intense game of chicken. All the kids there (which was starting to grow in size because it was getting closer to the dance) crowded around the pool, hooting and hollering, egging the two girls on.

Ryan crossed his arms and let out a laugh. He could just feel Sharpay's awkwardness radiating off of her, although she did an outstanding job at not showing it. _What an actress. _He looked to his left and saw that Gabriella was in the same stance as himself: arms crossed and smiling. He made a mental note to talk to the brunette later.

Sharpay and Troy had two wins, and Taylor and Chad both had two wins also. Next team who won would take home… bragging rights for an entire year. What a prize.

Zeke was in the pool as the referee. "Ready… set… FIGHT!" He dove out of the way.

Sharpay leaned forward and grabbed a hold of Taylor's arms, and Taylor did the same to her. Both girls looked at each other and laughed as they tried knocking one another off the shoulders of the guy beneath them. It was a rough battle that took several minutes, and it ended with Troy bringing out his secret move, which consisted of him just telling Sharpay to let go of Taylor's arms, and he took a step backwards which made Taylor topple forward off Chad's shoulders and into the water with a splash.

"And Team Evans wins!" Zeke exclaimed. All the kids laughed and cheered and Sharpay put her hands up in victory. The water Troy was standing in came up to about the middle of his chest, so Sharpay could just bend down and splash some water at Troy. She rested both arms and her head against Troy's wet brown hair, which _still _smelled like shampoo, despite the chlorine. He ran his hands slightly up the smoothness of Sharpay's legs underneath the water and looked up.

"Nice job up there!" he laughed, but Sharpay didn't fully register his voice, she was more focused on the hands that continued rubbing on her legs. She could already feel the pounding of her lower region start to get faster and she squirmed slightly, hoping that Troy couldn't feel the pulsating rhythm on his neck. "You wanna get down?"

Sharpay laughed nervously. "You've got to admit, this isn't the most comfortable position in the world." She didn't _want _to get down, she _needed _to get down.

"Oh," Troy blushed slightly, noticing finally what his hands were unconsciously doing. "Right." He took a deep breath and dunked himself underwater and he swam forward, removing Sharpay from his shoulders. When Troy resurfaced, he flipped his head side to side, removing the excess water from his hair. She giggled softly, and Troy smiled shyly.

"I almost had you there," Taylor grinned. Sharpay almost yelped in surprise at Taylor's sudden voice. _Why does that always happen? _She asked herself with a groan. _He makes me feel like I'm the only one around… and since **when **have all these people arrived?_ There were about forty people in the backyard, double in size since Sharpay had last counted, and it was still growing.

"Have… these people always been here?" Sharpay questioned confusingly, just loud enough for Taylor to hear.

"Oh, that is _so _cute," whispered Taylor, smiling.

"What is!" Sharpay asked, but Taylor wouldn't respond. She swam over to the pool stairs and stepped up two of them before she turned around. Taylor looked at Troy, who was joking around with Chad at the time and didn't notice, and then looked back at Sharpay with her eyebrow raised. Sharpay's eyes grew wide as she realized what Taylor meant. Taylor just grabbed her towel and walked off with a chuckle.

_Am I really that obvious? I am, aren't I, _Sharpay answered her own thought as she swam over to the edge of the pool. Noticing where she was going, Troy followed.

"It's gettin' crowded now, isn't it?" Troy hoisted himself up and sat with his feet dangling in the water, facing Sharpay. She smiled inwardly to herself, that Troy was giving her all his attention. Though it only made her wonder what was going on more.

"This is nothing. It's only 6:00… Wait another hour when the DJ starts up and the dance gets going… I think there are going to be around two hundred people here."

"I might lose you," Troy pouted, making his bottom lip stick out.

"I'll stay close." Sharpay splashed some water on him.

"You better, because I'll put you on a leash, I swear."

"I wouldn't mind that," Sharpay winked. _Fine, he's giving me attention, so I'll just flirt back… and worry about Gabriella later. _

"Okay," Troy said loudly, "someone go get me some rope—or better yet, some handcuffs."

"Handcuffs? Oooh," she taunted.

Ryan stood up on a chair, interrupting any more playful banter. "If anyone's hungry," he announced loudly so everyone could hear him, "we have a buffet-style dinner in the kitchen, and if anyone wants, they can follow me to our entertainment wing!" With that, Ryan hopped off the chair. There was some murmuring, then a stampede to rush inside the house.

"Well, I'm all pruny," Sharpay stated once a good deal of kids were gone from the backyard. She lifted her hands out of the water and studied them with a wrinkled nose.

"I can see that."

Sharpay raised herself out of the water and stood up next to Troy. "I'm going to go take a shower… get some of this gross chlorine out of my hair and get dressed and stuff. You can too, if you'd like— I-I mean, in Ryan's room, Ryan has a shower too, that y-you can use."

Troy stood up and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "I'm okay," he told her. Little did Sharpay know, Troy was fighting with himself to keep his eyes looking at Sharpay's face, and not look down to her dripping wet, curvy, delicate figure that stood before him.

"See you in a bit, then." And with that, she walked into the house without a look back. Good thing too, or else she would have observed an awfully goofy happy expression on Troy's face.

Gabriella was watching that whole conversation though a window very close by, in the Evans' study.

"Look at him, Ryan. He's smitten with her."

Ryan burst out laughing. "Did you just say the word smitten?" He looked at her, amused.

"Maybe I did… but Ryan, I'm _serious!_"

"It's not a bad thing." Ryan stood up from the computer chair he was sitting in and closed the doors, which made the room quieter, and gave the two more privacy. He returned to his chair.

"I _know _it's not a bad thing, because she's in love with him too." She collapsed on a plush couch next to Ryan. "And now she's trying to deny her feelings because she still thinks I'm going out with him."

Ryan was suddenly alert. "You haven't told her you've broken up? It's been almost two weeks!" He opened up his mouth to say something else, but then he just looked confused. "Wait, how do you know Sharpay is in love with Troy? That's not something she would just come out and say."

Gabriella hit a palm to her forehead about seven or eight times before responding. "When I slept over here a week or so ago to plan the party more, she went downstairs to get some food to eat, and I… found something… and I might have… read some things I shouldn't have..."

"You read her journal?" Ryan yelled and stood up. "Is that why you and Troy broke up?" He calmed down and suddenly looked thoughtful and curious. "What did it say?" He promptly sat back down and put a hand on his chin.

"Everything, Ryan!" Gabriella cried. "Everything. Everything she was feeling, every thought that popped into her brain… It was beautiful, tragic, poetic, even. She has feelings of love and devotion for Troy so strong, it doesn't even compare to any feelings I ever had for the poor guy." She sat up and looked at Ryan. "Which is why the feelings were mutual, when me and Troy broke up, I mean."

"And Sharpay still doesn't know?" Ryan sighed, leaned back and swiveled in the chair.

"And Sharpay is completely clueless still, yes."

"Why haven't you told her, Gab?" Ryan's voice was soft.

Gabriella inhaled a very slow deep breath and let it out just the same. "I have _no _idea, Ryan. Part of me wants to say to her 'Troy's all yours!' Now, go have crazy, kinky island sex on the beaches of Maui with him like you've been dreaming about—" Gabriella ended that sentence in a fit of giggles.

"Oh God. Is that where it took place? I think I woke her from that dream once."

Gabriella sank to the floor clutching her stomach, laughing. "I shouldn't be laughing, this is mean. So mean. But yes—oh my God—yes. That was the dream. But seriously though," she regained some composure. "She's a very, _very, _gifted writer." Gabriella fanned herself off. "Every feeling, kiss, touch, was detailed… explicit… Oh man. I was almost embarrassed to read some of the stuff she wrote in there. But I couldn't stop reading it, it was incredible!"

"Oh," Ryan smirked and nodded, "I got it. You just wanted some free porn."

"No!" Gabriella turned red. "No, I just wanted to know—"

"—free porn—"

"—what was really going on—"

"—free porn—"

"—in Sharpay's head. _Will you shut up?_" Gabriella couldn't breathe, she was laughing so hard.

"Let's get back to the party. I'm starving."

Gabriella scowled at Ryan, but her stomach growled and she couldn't object.

"Oh, and just so you know, you're going to tell her about you and Troy. _Very_ soon."

Gabriella looked at the floor and nodded.

"All right. Let's go."

* * *

The steam of the shower felt lovely to Sharpay as she took a deep breath of it, the water making her skin tingle slightly. There was something about a nice, long, hot shower that made Sharpay feel like it was a fresh start, the residue of the day carefully washed away down the drain. Her head was clear of any thought, until she heard laughter and chatter from outside in the backyard. Her mind quickly reeled back to the heated moment in the pool, and Sharpay could still feel a burning sensation of where Troy's hands were absentmindedly caressing her legs. She started breathing faster and suddenly hit the handle of the shower so the water turned icy cold, which made her shriek and it instantly took her mind off Troy—she didn't want to start anything she couldn't finish. 

"God damn." Sharpay turned the water warm again and lathered up some shampoo and conditioner in her golden blonde hair. "Troy, look what you do to me." _And I can't tell you, seeing as you're going out with my best friend! How awesome is that._ "But, _fuck, _Troy," she cursed, "every single time I see you lately, I feel the need to shove you against a wall and—"

"Wow, please don't finish that sentence, for my sake. I can hear you. We're about to cut the cake, so you better get down there soon, okay?" Ryan's voice was muffled by the door and the sounds of the running water.

"Ryan!" Sharpay said, mildly frustrated. "How much did you just hear? And was I really talking out loud?" She closed her eyes and let the water fall on her head as she waited for an answer.

Ryan took a step backward and stood in front of her bathroom door again briefly. "Yes, you were talking out loud, and I heard more than I bargained for," he chuckled.

"I'll be down in ten minutes." Sharpay really wasn't all that mad that Ryan heard her, which was new. She was just annoyed that he cut off her daydreaming… _again. _

When Sharpay came back down to the party, there were about a hundred people all scattered in the backyard and in the main parts of the house. Whistles and catcalls flew in her direction, and she blushed in reply. Sharpay was wearing a small black dress, which she had been saving for this very occasion. It was simple, yet elegant… _And Troy is going to **die, **_she grinned as she walked straight on through a crowd of kids, knowing they'd move out of her way, just as they always had at school.

"You know, one of these days, there's going to be a kid who actually _doesn't _move out of your way, and you're going to risk some real permanent injury," Troy said, sneering, as Sharpay made her way over to the gigantic cake that was sitting on a table in the backyard. He had to physically hold his jaw up to keep it from hanging down. Sure, she's looked good before… but now… "Sharpay, you look amazing," he managed to spit out.

"Is that it? Surely you can find some more adjectives to shower me in compliments with," she winked.

"Gorgeous, stunning, fantastic—"

"Okay, okay, I was only kidding," laughed Sharpay, stopping Troy from saying anything else.

"I'm not…" Troy mumbled to himself as Chad and Zeke stood up on a couple chairs and led all the kids there in a rousing chorus of 'Happy Birthday', which was quite lovely… and quite off-key, but it's the thought that counts.

Ryan appeared at Sharpay's side and Gabriella conducted them to make a wish and blow out their candles. The cake itself only had two candles on it, one for each twin. Sure, it could actually fit about _two-thousand_ candles, but they decided on just two, it was easier that way, and plus it took less time to light.

Everyone that was crowded around the cake and the twins were silent as they both closed their eyes and made a quick wish. Without planning, Ryan and Sharpay ended their wish and blew out their candle at the same time, which made the place erupt in laughter. The DJ gave Sharpay a thumbs-up signal, which was her cue.

"All right! As people take turns getting their piece of cake, who's ready to _party?_" Sharpay yelled and threw an arm in the air, and at that same moment, up-beat music started blaring out of the speakers. There was an air of excitement surrounding the area, laughter and lively conversations were heard and a whole sea of kids bounced over to the dance floor and started moving to the rhythm of the beat.

Sharpay laughed and covered her mouth, unable to wipe the grin off her face at the commotion she just caused. She spun around and joined Ryan, Gabriella and Troy, who were still standing next to the cake waiting for a piece. Gabriella and Sharpay squealed at each other and they held hands, laughed and looked at the boys.

"Did you plan that?" Troy had to raise his voice over the music.

"It was my idea," Gabriella smiled and nudged her friend who rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, she told me I should do it, I'll admit it," Sharpay laughed. Her smile contently faded from her expression as she looked around.

"C'mon, you guys! Let's dance!" Gabriella yelled.

Sharpay had to protest. "I'm not in a real dance-y mood right now. I'm kind of tired," she lied.

"What?" Gabriella strained to hear Sharpay's voice over the beats of the new song playing.

"I'm tired!" she repeated, a little louder.

"Girl, you can't be tired! Here." Gabriella grabbed the plate of a boy passing by with his newly cut piece of cake. "Oh, it's for the birthday girl," she loudly reassured the guy. She turned back around to Sharpay with a grin, and the boy walked off with a grunt to wait in line for another piece. "Eat this. You need the energy. Plus, you're too damn skinny." Gabriella snatched the plastic fork and tried feeding a piece to Sharpay.

"No, really," Sharpay swatted Gabriella's arm from her face with her free hand. "I'm fine. You guys go dance. Go have fun."

"Okay," Gabriella said slowly, "but I'm coming for you later." She dragged both Ryan and Troy into the massive crowd, which was easily around two hundred kids now.

"Sharpay!" Troy tried getting her attention. He was successful. "Save me a dance?"

"Of course!" she smiled.

Gabriella made sure to keep watching how Sharpay would react when Troy turned away and started dancing. The second he did, the grin on Sharpay's face disappeared, and she shook her head, carefully wiping the tears that were about to smear her mascara. That struck Gabriella hard. Sharpay thought no one was watching her, but Gabriella saw it. Feeling a guilty pang inside her chest, Gabriella tried suppressing her own tears as she watched Sharpay's actions covertly, still trying to dance at the same time.

Sharpay looked down at her cake, frowned, and stabbed her fork through the layer of icing and down to the paper plate itself, letting the whole thing tumble to the ground carelessly.

Gabriella stopped dancing. _**You **are ruining this night for her. It's all **your **fault, _her mind was screaming at her as she watched Sharpay walk away. _Why haven't I told her…_Another part of Gabriella's brain echoed the conversation between Ryan and herself earlier.

"_And now she's trying to deny her feelings because she still thinks I'm going out with him."_

_Fuck. This is all my fault. _"He's giving you all the signs," Gabriella whispered. "You just don't want to believe it."

Ryan stopped dancing because he noticed Gabriella stopped. "What's wrong?"

All Gabriella could do was point. Ryan stood on his toes and peered around quickly to where the she was pointing. He just caught a glimpse of a girl with blonde hair and a black dress who was running into the house hurriedly.

"Sharpay." Ryan grabbed a hold of Troy's arm to get his attention. "Hey, hey," he repeated. Troy stopped mid-dance and saw that Gabriella and Ryan both weren't dancing and had worried expressions cast on their faces.

"What?"

"Hold on," Ryan told them as he parted through the waves of people, who were oblivious to the drama unfolding.

* * *

Sharpay didn't fully understand her own actions. Everything just… seemed to be… _too much. _ That's all, Sharpay kept telling herself. 

Nothing else.

Nope. Everything was completely fine and dandy. She leapt up the stairs two at a time, feeling an all-too-familiar sting behind her eyes, but no. She was fine.

Twisting the handle on her door, Sharpay threw herself into her room and she slammed the door behind her. Despite her inner denial, Sharpay found that she couldn't cry. The tears were leaking out, her nose was becoming stuffy, but that sob wouldn't escape her body. She hated that feeling.

Sharpay had never seen so many people packed into her backyard, all the kids dancing and laughing. _And having a great time…_She plopped down on her cushioned window seat to spy on the kids below. The night was growing dark, and Sharpay couldn't see much of her room because she had forgotten to turn on her light switch, but she thought better of it anyway. People would notice that a light was coming from the second story, and they would've been suspicious. At least no one could bother her this way. It was Sharpay's time to think, and not be disturbed and—

A soft knock on her door was heard, and it creaked open without waiting. Sharpay didn't know whether she should roll her eyes or be thankful that she had such a caring brother as Ryan.

"I'm fine, Ry," Sharpay told him sharply. "It's just… Troy's been making my head spin a little." She gave a guilty laugh and finished with a deep sigh as she put her forehead up to the window, eyes scanning the crowd. "Troy's been acting strange, Gabriella's been acting strange… If I didn't know any better, I'd think that they were secretly engaged or something." She let out another laugh, but it came out more as a huff as she was trying to fight the tears that were ready to spill down her cheeks. She opened up her window hastily, letting some fresh air in.

Sharpay spotted Gabriella's bright yellow dress. She saw her slow dancing with a tall brown-shaggy-haired boy who was unmistakably Troy, by the way Gabriella was smiling at him. "I didn't really know I was the jealous type," she joked, filling the silence. Noticing that Ryan wasn't saying anything, she kept talking.

"I…I know I pretended that I liked him before, in school and stuff… but… when you pretend something for so long, you start believing it's actually there, and true… and before you know it, it's real," Sharpay finished in a whisper. "It's real," she repeated, voice stronger and sure of herself. "It's _real, _and _oh God, _it shouldn't be." She put her palm up to the screen of the window and let it slide down until it was on her lap again. "The 'like' turned into _love, _and I'm scared." She choked on a cry, but it wouldn't come out. "Ryan… I love Troy, but I don't know if he loves me back."

"Why don't you ask him?" said a strained, nervous voice from the door.

All the blood pumping in Sharpay's body seemed to freeze and her heart leapt to her throat as she dreadfully turned her head around to look at the person standing at the door.

It was Troy.

Troy had been the one listening to her ramble the entire time—_not_ Ryan.

She snapped her head back in the direction of the window. Sharpay did not _dare _turn around to face him again, first reason being that she couldn't make the room stop spinning and she had to focus more on trying to keep her dinner down in her stomach where it belonged. She swayed back and forth, but managed to glance down to see who Gabriella was really dancing with. No, that was _not _Troy, Sharpay noticed despairingly.

The real Troy was standing in _her room._

In the silence, Sharpay was only able to hear the pounding of her own heart in her ears. Though she summoned up all the courage in her five-foot-three-inch stature that she could muster and slowly turned herself around to face the surprise visitor. Sooner better than later, she told herself.

Sharpay could feel the heat of the piercing-blue eyes of Troy's burning into her, and she found that she could say nothing at all. Her throat seemed to be constricted, and her own eyes were fully captivated in his gaze, unable to look away or think straight. Letters, words, sentences, and phrases were all jumbled up in her brain, even if she was able to speak, none of it would have made any sense at all.

Through the dim lighting of the room, Troy couldn't fully see Sharpay's face, although he could see that her silhouette was visibly trembling. Troy ached to run over to her and hold her tight and make her stop, but he didn't know how she was going to react yet. For all he knew, the trembling could have been caused by being incredibly pissed.

"Ryan, uh…" Troy wrung his hands, trying to make his voice sound normal, "he saw you run inside and so he ran after you, but then he came back and got me, and explained that _I _should be the one to come talk to you… not him." _Great, blame it on the brother._ He took a few steps forward daringly, and saw that Sharpay's eyes were now cast downward, and her left hand was supporting her body on the wall next to her. "He also told me a couple other things."

Sharpay could only vaguely hear what Troy was saying, but she strained her ears to listen.

"He told me that Gabriella has been hiding something from you. Something that is kind of huge news."

Okay, she was listening. As Troy approached closer to where she was standing, Sharpay was taken aback. Troy Bolton was always confident, but at this moment, he seemed entirely unsure of himself and his surroundings. She still didn't say a word; sheer mortification clouded her brain instead.

"Didn't Gabriella tell you… anything?" He took another cautious step forward, not knowing whether to keep walking.

Sharpay's expression deadpanned as she shook her head vigorously, still void of any voice. Troy inhaled and exhaled quickly, trying to steady himself. He tried thinking of the best way to break the news to her. Gently, but firm at the same time, calm but—O_h forget it. _He was just going to wing it.

"Gabriella and I broke up about a week and a half ago," Troy finally blurted out. Sharpay blinked rapidly, trying to make sure she had heard correctly, suddenly very happy that she was holding herself up by the wall. "She figured out she didn't love me, and I figured out I loved someone else."

Sharpay had been silent ever since Troy had revealed himself standing in the doorframe. Her silence was slowly driving him insane.

"Please," Troy begged, "say _something. Anything._" He took the concluding steps so he was face to face with Sharpay. Her cheeks shone with trails of unspoken tears in the moonlight and Troy's water-blue eyes were glistening with apprehension. She bit the soft flesh of her bottom lip and shut her eyes tight as Troy put both his hands on her shoulders, running his palms down the length of her arms. Sharpay gave an involuntary shudder from the lightness of his touch.

A cool night breeze swept through the room, giving both of them a chill.

"This can't be real," Sharpay said hoarsely, making Troy give a startled blink. She found that she could look everywhere but at the boy standing just a foot in front of her.

"Yes," Troy said in such a pleading voice, Sharpay didn't know if it was really the same boy speaking, "Yes it _is. _I'm real, you're real… _this is real_." He let go of Sharpay's right arm and brought the hand to her chin. He didn't realize he was doing anything wrong, but his left thumb was brushing against the scars of Sharpay's right wrist, which made her feel humiliated and ashamed. Troy tried lifting Sharpay's chin to look at his face, but Sharpay wouldn't allow it. She fought against it gently, eyes still closed and refusing to look at him.

Troy brushed stray locks of hair out of Sharpay's eyes, and instead of tucking it behind her ear; he combed his fingers through it and cupped the side of her head. Sharpay found herself nudging her head against his simple touch, wanting more. She brought her gaze upwards, becoming less frightened by her feelings by the second.

"I don't know what's going on in that head of yours right now, but I'd like to know. Because, I don't know what it is, but I care about you. More than you know," said Troy, voice breaking. "And… it scares me, too." Sharpay's eyes opened in awe, because of the identical feelings she was having. "It's… It's time to face our fears, Sharpay."

That was it. Troy was the key that just unlocked a thousand new worlds; worlds that Sharpay never knew existed until that instant. There were no doubts in her mind that told her Troy wasn't telling the truth, because one look into Troy's enchanting blue eyes was enough to see the soul of a boy who just spilled his heart out and was anxiously awaiting a response. Sharpay was speechless, so she did the only thing she was capable of doing. She buried herself in Troy's chest and clung onto him.

"Ryan said you were a hugger," Troy joked softly, rubbing Sharpay's back. When Sharpay regained enough composure, she pulled away just enough so her face was still inches away from Troy's. She traced his jaw line with her index finger, shaking her head faintly, still in disbelief of everything that was happening. _This is real. Not a dream._ She swallowed noticeably a couple times before she gained enough courage to speak again.

"Troy, I… I care about you, too. And I don't think I'm scared any more," she whispered into the dark shadowy room. When her finger finally reached his chin, she curled her knuckle around it and brought his face closer to hers. The last thing Troy saw was Sharpay's teary-brown eyes before he let his eyelids flutter closed and felt her soft glossy lips against his own.

Her heart was soaring. She pressed her body into Troy more, lips now parted, which was silent permission for Troy's tongue to enter. She felt herself shiver from the breeze, from the excitement, and from the moment itself.

Her hormones weren't taking control too much, she didn't have an urge to rip off Troy's pants at the time, but in Sharpay's opinion, this was a million times better than both of those things combined.

She felt loved, and she felt wanted.

Which were exactly the two things she had always wished and dreamed for.

* * *

_**A/N-** Oh my GOODNESS. You don't know HOW much of a struggle it was not to make poor Sharpay and Troy just jump on each other and start having passionate love-making in the middle of the pool…. I swear. I could make different fanfics off of this one, just from all of the crazy sex scenes I could branch off from different parts of this chapter. _

_I hope this ending chapter was long enough for you guys, it certainly kept me entertained writing a whole 20 pages by hand, and then typing it all out… But I hope you're happy with the end result. And I hope it wasn't too cheesy and/or typical. Because I hate it when that happens. So you have permission to tell me exactly what you think. I'm going to brace myself. The last ending scene I had in my brain for the longest time, I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't know what exactly what I wanted to be said, and… I wasn't too sure how to come around to it, but… I did what I could. And again, I hope you liked it. _

_The sequel to this one is going to be called "**Don't Dream Too Far**", but I've been reading too much femmslash!smut so I think my next fanfic will be a Sharpay/Gabriella one. Because there needs to be more of those, dammit. But, oh boy. I'm probably going to make a hot Troypay sex fic that I'm going to put on my livejournal because Zac and Ashley are the hottest couple ever. _

_Thank you to all my reviewers, for sticking with this fic through all of my non-updateness… Gah. And I love love love love love you guys for that. You have no idea. If it weren't for you, (and my undeniable love for writing), I couldn't have finished this story. So I wuvv you guys. So so much. _

_If there are any typos in this chapter, it is because I love you all passionately, and I stayed up 'til 1:45 in the morning typing the last of this out, even though I have to go to basketball practice at 7:00… today. So I'll edit it later, I promise._

_Be on the look-out for the sequel, and I'll see ya'll later. _

_Alyssa_


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